


Whispers of Tomorrow

by Gabbysanerd



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Action, Black Badge Division (Wynonna Earp), Canon Lesbian Character, Crimes & Criminals, F/F, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Nicole Haught, References to Wynonna Earp (TV), Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-08-23 22:16:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20241655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gabbysanerd/pseuds/Gabbysanerd
Summary: Agent Lyons wasn't sure what to expect when asked to assist Dolls in solving his case in Purgatory. Right from the start, Wynonna Earp's wild life amazed her, but, that wasn't the only thing that drew her into the small town.





	1. New Start?

Chapter 1

Snow. That was all that I could see for miles. It covered the trees, the road, my legs when I slipped and fell while walking to the car (we don't need to talk about that). The stuff was annoying. I was never able to plant my feet correctly to chase someone, so they were sure as hell going to get away now. 

"This place is shit, I don't know why you chose to even come out here. You could have done way better than this, Lyons, why you chose this over working corporate security with the Division is beyond me." 

The driver had waited all of 20 minutes to tell me about the bad decision I was making by doing this. I wanted to drown out his rant, tell him 'it was the best thing for me to do at the moment', but no one would truly understand why I had decided to be placed in Purgatory. 

"Can you stop talking so I can think about the awful decision I have made for myself? Are you capable of shutting up for the rest of the car ride? Is that something you have the capacity to accomplish, Stevens?" I shot back, not wanting to hear his rant, or a rant from any man at this rate. 

The man next to me scoffed and shook his head, continuing to drive towards the town I would be stationed at until the mission was either completed or terminated, whichever comes first. 

"Have you at least packed everything you're going to need? Holster, baton, vest, gun-" 

"I'm going to stop you right there, Stevens, I've never liked you, we both know that. We both know you're going to feel nothing but joy when you drop me off at the Sheriff's Office and head back to base assuming that you're now the director's favorite. So, right now, and this is the final time I am going to stress this, stop talking to me like I am one of the helpless secretaries at the office that fall on their knees to please you. I am not one of them, nor will I ever be. I don't need you making sure the weak new female agent has everything she needs before going on her first mission. I was raised in Black Badge, I know it better than you ever will." 

I looked over at his face to gauge his reaction to my words. His eyes furrowed in frustration as his jaw set in a tight clench, his hand now gripping the steering wheel as he took a turn, the Purgatory sign now behind us. He swallowed, allowing my words to soak in as I turned to look straight ahead, shaking my head as irritation filled me. 

I had been with Stevens for three years now, working random cases with him- which really consisted of me fixing whatever he decided to fuck up. 

I ran my fingers over my black skinny jeans, trying to pick off the random pieces of lint that had managed to bury themselves into the fabric of my jeans. I grew frustrated, the lint not coming out as I sighed and closed my eyes to calm myself, running my hand through my short hair to fix what had fallen over my forehead. My appearance was something I really valued about myself, it's the first thing a person sees, so I needed to look good for everyone. 

I had short brown hair that was cut into a men's haircut, short on the sides longer on the top, styling it back with a little bit of hair gel so the top wouldn't fall into my eyes. Tattoo's were littered all over both of my arms, all of them fully healed. My height was on the shorter side, but that didn't change the fact that I could and would kick anyone's ass if they even had the tiniest thought they could beat me.

"Well, welcome to Purgatory then, Agent Lyons." 

The car came to a stop in front of a small police department, only two squad cars parked in front of the building. I opened the door of the black SUV I had been escorted in, the cold slapping me in the face again. I took a deep breath to remind my body to continue working, my body instantly wanting to shut down from the insanely cold temperatures. 

My black boots hit the snow covered road, my breath puffing out in front of me as I grabbed my one suitcase with all of my belongings, shutting the door behind me. Without so much as a goodbye, the SUV drove off, leaving me alone in the middle of the street. 

I gripped the suitcase tight in my gloved hand, looking around the small and sleepy town. There were no cars driving in the street, they were all parked at the restaurants and bars that filled the main street. People were hurrying around, not bothering to look up and greet the random stranger in the street wearing a thick winter coat that was thicker than her entire body. 

I was not made for this cold. 

Dolls was supposed to greet me in front of the department, warming me up to everyone before I met them, but I guess that wasn't the plan anymore. I forced my body to move towards the entrance, my eyes scanning absolutely everything they could. I was trying to find all the exits and corners of the building before I had even set my foot inside of it. After years of training, everything I did was second nature at this point. 

Before I could place my hand on the door handle to open the door, the door swung open, a deputy hurrying out to one of the squad cars, speeding off towards the other side of town. As the door started to swing shut, I placed my hand on the glass to stop it, allowing myself into the department. There was a long hallway, which lead off to an office area and a door on the other side of the hallway. 

I could hear multiple people screaming at each other, not being able to tell exactly how many people were present at the argument. I could hear a very loud female voice overpowering all of the other voices, but I did not know who owned the voice. 

I made sure there was no ice on my boots before I stepped off of the carpeted area, walking slowly towards the sound of the raised voices. I tried to decipher what I was hearing, but I truly did not understand it. 

"How about you just sit your asses down and let me shoot them, problem solved!"

"That's not how it works."

"Why are none of you on my side with this?"

I was standing in the middle of the open area now, I was able to see two females leaning against the desks the deputies used, along with Dolls across the room, leaning against the wall. They all stopped yelling once Dolls caught site of me, holding up his hand to silence the screaming female. 

"Agent? Agent Lyons?" 

The large man allowed a rare smile to fill his face, crossing the room to stand directly in front of me. He opened his arms for a hug which I quickly refused, holding my hand up for him to shake. 

"Agent Dolls, it's been years." 

"Ummmm, Dolls? Care to explain why there's a super hot chick you're excited to see that isn't me?" 

The woman who had been yelling asked, stepping forward to lean against the main desk. The smaller woman also followed suit, giving me a sweet smile. 

"Everyone, this is Black Badge's most elite agent, Agent Lyons. Lyons, this is Waverly and Wynonna Earp." 

"Hi, I'm Waverly, it's really nice to meet you!" 

The smaller woman ran around the desk to be directly in front of me, shaking my hand vigorously. I couldn't help but chuckle, seeing her features light up as she saw me smile. She was cute, I'll give her that. 

Wynonna smiled at me, still looking slightly skeptical. 

"So you're the brainwashed agent the BBD was able to raise as their own prize possession?" 

The woman asked, my mouth lifting slightly into a smirk as Dolls reeled around to glare at Wynonna. 

"I called her in to assist in our investigation, be nice." 

Wynonna scoffed and visibly rolled her eyes, placing her hands on the desk. 

"Fine, Hi, I'm Wynonna. The one with the big-ass gun." 

I raised my eyebrow at her odd greeting, nodding my head slowly, not sure how to react to that. 

"Well, I'm sure you're tired and want to see your new apartment-" 

"Excuse me? I'm getting an apartment?"

"Yes, fully furnished. The department wanted you to feel as comfortable as possible." 

I rolled my eyes at how annoying the Division could be. I was the one that was able to achieve all that I have, not them, but since I was raised by them, they were able to gloat. 

I watched as Dolls crossed the room to the office in the corner of the room, knocking on the door loudly. The door opened a crack, hearing a mans voice speak with Dolls. The door opened fully, a large man stepping out fully to greet me. 

"Hi there Agent Lyons, I'm Sheriff Nedley, It's nice to meet you. Nicole, get out here and greet the newest addition to the team!" 

My eyes darted back to the office I thought had been vacated once Sheriff Nedley had come out to greet me. I watched as a beautiful young woman stepped out of the office in a deputy uniform. She stopped and looked at me for a second like a deer in headlights before she smiled softly and crossed the room towards me. She pushed her short red hair out of her face as she appeared to be flustered, looking at the floor then at me. 

"Hi, I'm Deputy Nicole Haught"

She extended her hand towards me, my eyes examining her pale hand as it floated in the air between us. I realized I was being rude, pulling myself out of the trance I was in with a slight shake of my head. I looked down at my gloved hand and pulled the glove off, taking Deputy Haught's hand in mine to shake. I could feel her hand begin to warm mine as she continued to smile and look directly into my eyes.

I felt myself grow uncomfortable with how much contact we were having, pulling my hand away from her's slowly. My heart was racing, my breathing hitched as I started to feel nervous, completely aware that everyone was waiting for me to say something. 

My eyes shot up as Wynonna hit her hands together, grabbing everyone's attention. "Well, now that those awkward hello's are over with, why don't we all go track a case as Lyons and Haught head to her apartment." 

I didn't have any say in the plans she had set, everyone agreeing as Haught looked around with surprise all over her face. 

"Wait.... I thought Dolls was taking her?" 

Dolls quickly shook his head, Waverly nodding her head just as fast to agree with Dolls. 

"Nope, we had agreed you would take her, you must have missed that conversation." 

Waverly quickly explained, winking at Deputy Haught as I started to grow tired of this conversation. I really just wanted to see the apartment at this point. To finally get some sleep after hours and hours of meetings and approvals. 

Deputy Haught grabbed my suitcase before I could take it back from her, walking towards the door. I could only quickly pull my glove back over my hand to protect it from the cold. My hands were extremely sensitive to the cold, if they got too cold it would give me so much pain my body would almost force itself to cry. 

I followed behind the deputy, trying but failing to keep my eyes from her ass as she led me to her squad car. I shook my head and sat in the passenger seat, her body filling the seat next to me as she started the car and went in an unknown direction. 

"So Deputy Haught-"

"You can call me Nicole."

"Nicole, how big is this town?" 

She chuckled, the sound easing my nerves as I closed my eyes. "There's the big city, which you live near, but we usually don't handle calls there." 

She kept her eyes on the road, seeming so professional and controlled. She was attractive, I'm not going to lie. I had always been attracted to women, so this attraction was nothing new to me. I had been able to maintain relationships while working at the Division, it just wasn't something I was fond of. 

"Is this suitcase all you brought?" 

The deputy brought me out of my thoughts, my eyes scanning the trees covered in snow to the right of me. 

"Yes, the Division likes to have us carry light." 

"Well, you may need more winter clothing then, your nose is bright red already!" 

Before I could reply to her comment, her squad car pulled in front of a nice apartment building, rolling my eyes at how grand it all looked. There were balconies for all of the rooms it seemed like, the entrance to the building looking as nice and inviting as a hotel. 

I followed the deputy up the stairs of the building onto the second floor, stopping as she stood in front of a beige door. 

"Well, this is you." 

She set the suitcase down and handed me the keys to the place, smiling softly at me.

"You can stay for a little bit if you'd like, deputy." 

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, my nerves getting the best of me as my heart began to race. The red head's face filled with surprise as she cocked her head to the side and smiled at me.

"Sure, but only for a few minutes, I'm still on the clock." 

I took the keys from her and unlocked the door, grabbing my suitcase before stepping through the door frame, the grandness of the apartment coming to light. 

"Holy shit, they must really love you." 

"I'm their pet, that is all." 

She didn't respond to my comment, opting to unzip her uniform jacket and place it on the chair closest to her. I was able to see the curves of her body now, my eyes instantly glued to her. 

Her body was slim yet athletic, her uniform hugging her in all the right places. My eyes finally landed on her firearm, noticing her holster was not very secure. 

"Your holster, it doesn't have a safety lock?" 

Her eyes shot down to her holster then back up at me, the question catching her off guard. 

"Well no, this is a small town, we don't have people fighting us for our guns. So no, it's just easier to pull it out this way." 

I nodded, not having the energy to argue with her about firearm safety along with the importance of holster safety. 

I sighed and unzipped my heavy coat, opening what I had assumed to be the closet to place my coat in. I looked over at Deputy Haught to find she had been staring at me, her mouth wide open as her eyes took in all of my features. I cleared my throat, not liking that I was being made the center of attention. 

She quickly closed her mouth, her face turning red as she looked all around the apartment, moving into the kitchen as my hands smoothed out the white button up I was wearing. I looked down to make sure my gun was securely in the holster before following her into the kitchen. 

She was opening some of the cabinets, looking at the contents. "So, how do you know Dolls? He's not really the kind of person to have a lot of friends."

I actually laughed at that, remembering how I had known Dolls. 

"We worked together at BBD for years. He obviously came in later than I did, but we grew close. He started getting cases out of the country so they gave me a new partner."

She nodded, leaning against the counter, drawing my eyes to her body. She just seemed so soft and inviting, yet the uniform hardened her outer appearance. Silence filled the room as we both looked at each other, not bothering to fill the air with awkward conversation. 

Her hand slid across the counter before she handed me a envelope that had been laying on top of it, my eyes not finding the envelope before. My hand reached for the letter, my fingers sliding over hers before the envelope was transferred to mine. She was about to speak, her mouth opening to form words as her radio crackled to life, the dispatcher calling out her name.

She froze, looking at me before turning her head to speak into the radio. 

"This is Haught." 

"You're needed to assist a traffic accident on the south side of town." 

"10-4, I'm headed there now." She smiled at me softly before she excused herself from the kitchen, leaving me alone with my thoughts. 

I looked down at the letter, knowing exactly who it would be from: The woman I had called 'mother' for years, but only after my birth mother had been killed; by me.


	2. A Good Impression

Chapter 2

Bang bang bang!

My eyes snapped open from frantic knocking on my door, startling me instantly. My heart raced as my body fought to jump start itself, giving me too much adrenaline as my legs swung over my bed, pulling my gun from underneath my pillow. 

My hand slid over the slide, racking the slide to ensure a live bullet was in the chamber, expending a live bullet onto the floor. I lifted myself onto the balls of my feet, making my movement less noticeable as I made my way to the front door where the banging continued. 

The door was actually rattling and hitting against the frame, causing the door to contort to an odd angle. I lifted my pistol towards where I assumed the person was standing on the other side of the door, fully ready to shoot through the door and kill the unknown person.

"Stop or I will shoot!" That was the only warning I was going to give the person, but, they were lucky I was even giving them that. There were many occasions where I had not warned the other person, in other words: I had killed numerous people before. It was either me or them, and I was still alive. 

"Lyons, it's Dolls."

I lowered my gun instantly, irritation filling me as I stormed to the front door and swung it open, my brain not registering the other people standing next to the agent. 

"You're really fucking lucky I even gave you a warning. Why in the hell are you here this early in the morning banging on my door? Who honestly gave you the right?" 

After I had let out my frustration, my eyes darted to the three women standing next to Dolls, realizing Dolls hadn't been alone.

I cleared my throat, a smug smirk on Dolls' face as I moved aside for everyone to enter my apartment. 

"Wynonna, Waverly, Deputy Haught, how is everyone?" 

Nicole could only nod as she continued to look at me in shock, her eyes raking all over my exposed body. I looked down only to realize I wasn't wearing a whole lot of clothing: Just boxers and a shirt without a bra underneath. 

I watched Nicole's reaction to my appearance, her face turning red as she realized she had been staring, her eyes darting to the ceiling to stop herself. She continued to stare at the ceiling, even as Wynonna nonchalantly looked over my body before sitting onto the couch. 

"You got a nice body, Lyons. You beat up a lot of men?" 

"Yes, actually I do."

I replied, hearing her chuckle and say something witty to Dolls as I crossed the room to get dressed so poor Nicole wouldn't have to stare at my ceiling the entire time. 

I came out in black boots, khakis, and a black long sleeve sweater, pulling the sleeves up over my elbows. I slid my holster onto my hip before locking my gun into the holster with a click, satisfied that I was ready to leave when they were. 

"Why are you all here?" I asked, the question coming off ruder than I had anticipated. 

"We all wanted to throw a 'welcome to hell' party for you but it seems you didn't get the attire information before we arrived." Wynonna was witty, I wasn't sure if I was going to get used to all of her odd but fitting statements, no one having ever spoken to me in such a manner. 

I chuckled and looked at Dolls, waiting for him to tell me why they had actually come here. 

"Xavier, please enlighten me." 

"Well R-"

"Lyons."

I cut him off before he could say my first name, quickly deciding I did not want the team to use it, or even know it for that matter. It wasn't that I despised my name, I just felt that it did not fit my appearance at all. My first name was soft, when I did not want to be viewed as soft by anyone. 

"Lyons, we all wanted to wake you up to take you to the station to meet the rest of the team, so finish getting ready and we can head out." 

I nodded and grabbed my thick coat from the closet, zipping it up before looking down towards the end table by the couch, where my gloves should have been. My heart dropped as I stared at the empty table, my eyes searching the immediate area to check and see if they had somehow fallen onto the floor. They weren't there. 

I felt slightly frantic, my eyes scanning the entire room before I turned quickly and checked the kitchen. 

"Dolls, my-"

"Gloves."

Nicole finished my sentence before I could, stretching her hand out towards me to produce the gloves I had been searching for. I grabbed the black gloves from her hand, thanking her quietly before looking up at Waverly, her face showing adoration as she looked between Deputy Haught and myself. I raised my eyebrow at her, her eyes darting to the floor before I could ask why she had been looking at me like that.

The drive to the station was quick, Wynonna filling the silence with random stories of when she was drunk and gotten herself into different situations. That woman was always drunk. 

Dolls pulled into an empty parking spot, Deputy Haught pulling in next to him with her squad car. She got out of the car gracefully, pushing her hair behind her ear as she shut the door and straightened her back, her eyes locking with mine before she quickly looked away and walked past me and into the station. 

I felt like I had made her nervous after our encounter earlier this morning, but it wasn't something that I wanted to have a conversation with her about. 

I was lead into the station by the two sisters as they pushed open an office door, a wide open office with a lab table greeting me. A scientist was looking over a computer, only looking up when he heard the door close behind us. 

"Jeremy, this is Agent Lyons. Agent Lyons, this is Jeremy"

I reached out to shake the mans hand, his grip strikingly weak. I ended up squeezing his hand too hard, my grip being used to being squeezed by strong hands. 

"Wow, that is quite a grip you've got, Agent Lyons." 

The scientist shook his hand to bring feeling back when I had let go, moving to stand behind the computer again. I was about to speak when the office door flew open again, the door hitting the wall with a lot of force as an unknown man stepped into the office. 

Out of instinct, I drew my weapon, planting my feet a shoulders width apart as I turned and held my pistol with one hand, my head turned towards the person. The barrel of my gun was pointed between the eyes of the man, watching as his eyes grew wide, taking out his old revolver. He pulled the hammer down and faced me, one hand outstretched holding his gun. 

"Doc Holliday, it's very nice to meet you." I lowered my weapon and slid it into the holster again, outstretching my hand towards him. "I'm Agent Lyons." 

The man reluctantly lowered his weapon and took my hand in his. "My friends call me Doc, you may call me Henry. No woman is going to draw on me and expect to be called a friend." 

"If it's any consolation, Mr. Holliday, I wouldn't have wasted a bullet on you anyway." 

I heard Wynonna snicker behind me as Henry lit a cigarette and grunted, choosing not to comment. 

"Oh please, you're just mad that she actually drew on you first." 

Waverly retorted, sitting at one of the desks as Holliday sat at another before putting his feet up onto the desk.

"So Lyons, how much of this shit show do you know about?" 

Wynonna was turning the dry erase board around, some random notes sprawled all over it. 

"I've been told what Dolls and Black Badge have told me. Dolls obviously knows more than they do, so I took his statements as facts." 

The heir uncapped a marker and laughed, glancing at me before shaking her head. She began to write down the name of places I did not know, only stopping after she had written down three of them. 

"These are restaurants we are all going to spend some time at. The mission is simple, all three of these restaurants will have a occupant that you need to eaves drop on, gathering info on a large revenant gathering that is happening sometime soon." 

Dolls stood next to Wynonna, his hands folded behind his back, squaring his shoulders. 

"Who's going with who?"

"Lyons and Waverly, myself and Wynonna, Doc by himself." 

Doc scoffed and blew out cigarette smoke, putting it out in the ashtray. "That agent does need supervised." 

I stood up slowly, choosing to ignore Holliday's comment as I placed my hands on the table and looked at Waverly. She lifted her eyes to look at me, a soft smile present. 

"Ready, Miss Earp?" 

She chuckled, standing and taking my arm in hers. "Of course, Miss Lyons." I escorted her out, her legs leading me in the direction of the restaurant we were walking to. 

We were seated immediately, the waitress giving me a dirty look as she slapped the menus down, walking away before we could tell her our drink order. 

"That was rude." 

Waverly remarked, opening the menu to look at the different options. I could only laugh at her, causing her to lower her menu to look at me. 

"What?"

"She was rude because of me, the way I look." 

"Why would she be rude because of how you look?" 

"I look like a lesbian, Waverly. I look like an abomination." 

"A beautiful abomination..." I lifted my eyes to look at her, a shy smile filling her face. 

"What? You're not the only one in this town that prefers the fairer sex." 

I cocked my head to the side, staring at Waverly, trying to decipher what she was telling me.

"A certain... Sheriff's Deputy..-" 

"What can I get the both of you?"

We both broke our eye contact to look up at the elderly woman with the notepad, staring at me with slight irritation. 

"A coffee, please."

I responded, closing my menu before handing it to the waitress. I folded my hands on top of the table, thinking of the information Waverly had supplied me with. Yes, Nicole was attractive, but I was not here for relationships, only to complete the mission then leave. 

"I'm not trying to force you guys together or anything since you just met her, I've just seen how you look at each other. I know she's been super lonely since moving out here since there's not a lot of selection out here. Oh, I've said too much..." 

I could only look at her with bewilderment, surprised at her random spewing of information. She seemed like a very nice girl, but I quickly learned that she could not be trusted with a secret, even if her life depended on it. 

"Speak of the devil..." 

The waitress placed the warm coffee mug in front of me, blocking my view as to who she was talking about. The old woman continued to stand in front of us, taking Waverly's food order before leaving, my eyes held captive by the officer leaning against the counter, talking to the attractive blonde, laughing at something she had said. 

I wanted to look away at that point, my eyes remaining glued to the red head as she smiled, placing her hand on top of the blondes. I wasn't feeling jealous, it was way too early for that. I just thought the attraction I had for her would somehow be known and reciprocated. 

My eyes remained glued to the deputy as the blonde blushed and walked away to continue working, Nicole looking around the cafe until her eyes landed on me. Her mouth fell open as she crossed the room, finally peeling her eyes away from me to address Waverly. 

"Hey Waverly, what are you guys doing here?" 

"Oh ya know, just catching some breakfast, why don't you sit next to Lyons and chat with us?" 

My eyes shot up to meet Waverly's, hoping she felt my eyes burn into her as I slid my body towards the wall, Nicole's body sliding in next to mine. I instantly felt her warmth, the booth far too small to fit two people comfortably. 

Nicole's gun was digging into my thigh, feeling the pain sear into my thigh as I sat there without complaining, sipping my coffee, grimacing at the bitterness. I watched as the sugar container was slid into my direction, watching Nicole's hand return to supporting her head as she laid her head in her hand. She listened to Waverly go on about something she had learned about in one of her classes, my brain not able to tell my ears to listen to her, instead thinking about how close Nicole was to me. 

I felt like I was a teenager again, only just being introduced to my sexuality. I would feel nervous when any female came close to me, scared they would immediately know my sexuality and hate me. I wasn't able to date as a teenager, but what my 'mother' didn't know wouldn't hurt her. 

I was pulled from my thoughts as I felt Nicole's fingers land on my thigh, my body jumping as I grabbed her hand to stop her, realizing she was only fixing her holster so it wouldn't dig into my thigh so much. 

The deputy's eyes grew wide as I continued to squeeze her fingers, knowing I was bringing her pain at this point. I couldn't get my brain to work correctly, struggling to try to release her fingers as my hand just ended up getting tighter, that night flashing before my eyes, shutting my eyes to try and push it out. 

I felt another hand land over my clenched hand, running her thumb over the back of my hand to attempt to soothe me and somehow free her hand. Slowly, my hand started to let go of her fingers, my body feeling as though it had just run a marathon. Exhaustion filled me as I leaned back in the booth, closing my eyes to attempt to calm myself. 

"Lyons, are you alright? I'm so sorry, I should have asked."

I opened my eyes slowly, meeting Nicole's head on, trying to find the right words. 

"That's alright, deputy. You just startled me is all."

Before either of us could reply anymore, Waverly hit her hand on the table softly to grab our attention, pointing behind me to the man that had slid in the booth directly behind me. Nicole was utterly confused, whisper asking her why she had drawn our attention to the local drunk. But, I went into work mode, tuning out all other sounds but the man's voice. 

"No, that's not how it's going to go down.."

"Well, it's not really our decision, is it?" 

"Just be at the house on time this time."

I furrowed my eyebrows, my hands moving before I could stop them. I grabbed the notepad Nicole kept in her uniform breast pocket, her mouth falling open in surprise as my fingers moved to her other breast pocket, grabbing her pen. 

I flipped the pad open until I was able to find a page that did not consist of random case notes, clicking her pen. Both women were gawking at me, too speechless to even say anything or question me. 

"Yeah well, that party is going to be insane, everyone is going to love it."

"Down by the forest, right?" 

"Yeah, you want some coffee?" 

I growled softly as they moved on from my desired conversation, not wanting to lose them. I knew I had to do something quickly, before they had forgotten what they were talking about. 

I pushed the table insanely close to Waverly, gravity almost sliding my cup into Waverly's lap. I rolled my body to the left, my legs straddling Nicole's lap, looking briefly at her before rolling my body again, my feet planting themselves on the floor. I shed my winter coat onto the floor with one swift flick of my arms, trying to appear more comfortable to the men to my right. 

I pulled the holster from my hip, placing it in Nicole's lap, finally gauging her reaction to my odd performance. Her face was filled with shock, her cheeks red from embarrassment. I pulled my eyes away, placing my hands on the table with the three men that were seated, looking at me with confusion. 

I bent down, my hands and arms laying on the table as I placed my chin on my hand, looking at the man what had been speaking closest to me. 

"I heard there was a party going on soon?" 

"Yeah? What does that have to do with you?"

"Well, if it's during the weekend, that's when I also like to head to parties. I have a specialty, would you like to hear it?" 

I stood back up, leaning over the table as I felt Waverly and Nicole, the three men hang on to every word I was saying. 

"Go ahead."

"Well, I really love going to parties to seduce as many women as possible. I find they really tend to enjoy a woman's touch over a man's. I don't think you've ever heard a woman moan in ecstasy like I have, it's truly divine." 

My eyes shot to Nicole's, her mouth fell open as she continued to look at me, too speechless to say anything. I peeled my eyes away from her, looking at the men in front of me. 

"It's at the edge of the forest near the old Blankenship homestead. If we catch you there, we will not hesitate to kill you ourselves. You're disgusting." 

I chuckled and nodded, hitting my hand on the table softly. 

"Maybe you'll see me, maybe you won't. Have a nice day, gentlemen."


	3. Meeting Again

Chapter Three

*I felt her hand slide down my thigh, the other caressing my cheek as she smiled at me, my heart melting as we continued to stare at each other.* 

*"So the decision is made, you're staying?"* 

I could hear her chuckle, something I hadn't heard in years. 

*Her hands were everywhere, then, they weren't on me anymore. I opened my eyes, only to be greeted by her hand on my throat, squeezing so tightly I wasn't able to push any air through as she gritted her teeth and shoved my throat and head into the bed until I blacked out.* 

I woke up in a cold sweat, my heart hammering in my chest as my hands darted to my throat to see if her hands were still there. I never wanted to think about her again, she hadn't wandered into my mind for years, I had no clue why she had come back. She was the reason why I never wanted to love a woman again, never would I let someone betray me the way she had. 

My phone rang, giving me relief from my thoughts as I brought it to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey try-hard, are you going to grace us with your presence today?" 

I smirked, having no doubt Wynonna had thought about saying that to me all morning. 

"Of course."

I hung up before she could think of another witty reply, walking over to my closet to see what I should wear today.

I walked out in brown boots, black skinny jeans, and a maroon sweater, running my hand through my hair to get it just right before I grabbed my gun, gloves, and coat, heading out the door. 

"Look who finally decided to show up today, the only one that found a lead." 

Wynonna turned around in her chair, greeting me with a sarcastic smile. Dolls looked at Wynonna before clearing his throat, fully addressing me.

"Yes, you were the only one to obtain information. So, we have to hold off until we have more info on the situation. We still have time before the gathering, so that shouldn't be a problem." 

I nodded, leaning back against a desk, crossing my arms over my chest. "Well, what are we doing then?"

Before anyone else could answer me, Wynonna shot out of her chair, almost tipping it over in the process. 

"You, try-hard, are going with me to my favorite meeting place, seeing the locals. You all are welcome too, but you, try-hard, are required." 

"Wynonna that's a god awful nickname, please don't use it." 

"Listen try-hard, I don't make the rules." 

She gave me a friendly smirk to show me she was only kidding, opening the office door, waiting for me to exit with her. 

I followed her closely as we walked across the street, noticing quite a few cars parked in front of the building we were heading towards. She stopped in front of the doors, a smirk evident as she pulled open the door to reveal a bar filled with patrons. 

"This, Lyons, is the heart of Purgatory." 

"If this is the heart, this town really is a shit hole."

"You're not wrong." 

I chuckled and stepped into the bar, the conversations people were having filling my ears as Wynonna pulled me towards the bar. People began to take notice and stare at us, no doubt questioning why Wynonna was with me. 

I knew some people in this bar had to be revenants, but telling who they were from the civilians was near impossible. 

"What are you drinking?" The bartender asked, eyeing me up and down slowly before his eyes came to a rest on my chest. 

I felt Wynonna push her body against the bar, pulling his attention away from me. 

"A whiskey for me." 

She drank the whiskey in one shot before I could even tell the bartender my order, catching me off guard. 

"Are you trying to impress me?"

"Oh please, I'm sure it doesn't take much."

I laughed at that as the bartender slid me the water I had ordered, Wynonna grimacing next to me as Waverly and Dolls came into view. 

"You're such a try-hard." 

"Someones gotta be on their toes, Wynonna." 

She ignored my comment, moving to stand next to the pool table with Dolls and Waverly. There was already two men playing, so I really wasn't sure why we were standing there. Waverly moved to stand next to me, placing her lips near my ear so that I could hear her over the music and conversations.

"Most of the people here have been here for generations and generations. Once you're in Purgatory, you rarely leave."

"Well, once my assignment is up, I'll be one of the few to leave"

I watched as Waverly seemed saddened by my words, frowning slightly as she looked down at the floor. "Who knows how long that will be though." She remarked, trying to make the situation seem brighter. 

My ears were alerted as the two men at the pool table began to argue about the other changing their shot, accusing the other of cheating. They continued to argue, raising their voices until they were almost screaming at each other. 

I watched as one shoved the other, rolling my eyes because they were going to resort to violence to resolve the argument. 

Wynonna stepped towards them, raising her arms to catch their attention. 

"Gentlemen, there's more important things to argue about than this; like the current state of the economy."

I chuckled at her comment, one of the men glaring at me. 

"What are you laughing at, you abomination." 

"Hey shit-face, I was speaking to you, not try-hard over there." Wynonna stepped in, glaring at the man that had spoken to me. 

They began to argue back and fourth, insults being thrown everywhere before the men began to shove and hit each other again. I glanced at Wynonna before I rolled my eyes, realizing I needed to be the one to stop them.

"Boys, let's just settle down." 

"We didn't ask you."

"I don't give a shit who you asked, act your age." 

I was actually able to pinpoint the moment anger began to fill the mens' eyes, quickly realizing it was about to turn physical towards me. I began to size up both men, pinpointing all of their weaknesses before they had even made a move towards me. 

They both looked at the other before the one with the pool cue moved towards me, drawing the stick back to hit me with it. I Immediately braced myself for the impact, this not being the first time I was hit with a pool cue. That's another story. 

Before the pool cue could sore through the air to where I could catch it, another hand shot out and stopped it in mid air, the man's face filling with surprise. 

"I really don't think you should strike a federal agent, Mr. Smith. That's some serious prison time." 

I knew her voice before I looked over at her wearing her uniform. I had no clue she had even come in here. 

The two men turned white, watching as Nicole reached behind her to pull out her handcuffs. 

"Do yourselves a favor and turn around, facing the pool table. Spread your legs apart, hands behind your backs, bent slightly. Do not give me anymore trouble, gentlemen." 

I couldn't help but be turned on as she handcuffed both of the men and escorted them across the street to the jail, leaving me speechless while hot and bothered. 

"Looks like you have someone here that likes you." Dolls remarked, smirking as he walked past me, leaving the bar. 

*Later that day*

Dolls and myself were the only ones occupying the BBD office, looking over old files and case reports. I heard Dolls yawn and stand, stretching his body before looking down at me. 

"I'm going to head back, you should too, Lyons." The agent stated, grabbing his jacket before shutting the door behind him, leaving me alone. I sighed and stood, following the path he had just taken. 

I closed and locked the office door behind me, dropping the keys into my coat pocket as I turned to leave, but was stopped. 

Nicole was still at her desk, pouring over a report with only her desk light on. There seemed to be a glow about her that drew me to her, my eyes not able to move anywhere else but towards her. 

I watched quietly as she sighed and ran her hand over her cheek in frustration, my mouth turning into a small smile as I cocked my head to study her further. She grabbed her pen and wrote a few more things onto the report, smiling with the work she had done. 

"You know, that could wait until tomorrow." I finally spoke up, causing her to jump, her hand instinctively landing on her gun. She relaxed once her brain registered it was me, smiling at me softly. 

"Gosh Lyons, you're really quiet." She said with a laugh, her eyes not leaving me. Her computer beeped, drawing her attention away from me. 

"Rose."

She looked at me confused, slightly distracted. "I'm sorry, did you say something?" 

"Rose." I said again, not able to say much more than that. I wasn't sure why I was telling her, it was just something my damn mouth had decided to do without consulting my brain first.

I watched as Nicole smiled and stood from her chair, walking over to me, her boots making soft thumps on the linoleum.

"Rose Lyons, it's very nice to meet you, I'm Nicole Haught." She extended her hands towards me, causing my cheeks to redden as I remembered that only a few days ago we had done this for the first time. 

I took her hand in mine again, shaking it firmly as our eyes never broke eye contact. I felt calm, at ease even. But, I also kept in the back of my mind that I wouldn't be staying here long enough to keep a relationship with her. 

"Well I have to go, have a good night, Nicole." 

"You as well, Rose."


	4. The Truth Shatters Some

Chapter Four

I sat in the unmarked squad car with Dolls, the air between us filled with silence, but we both weren't up for small talk at this point. We both knew how the other operated, why change something that didn't bring rise to problems? 

"So Lyons... um, your 'mother' called me today, with BBD instructions.." 

"Why was I not contacted?" 

I shot out, cutting him off before he could tell me what they had told him. Why were they already going behind my back the second I got out of their grasp?? 

We had pulled up in front of an older looking house, the mailbox out front stating it was Wynonna's house. We both exited the car, making our way into the house before the cold really got to us. 

Inside, I could smell cookies baking in the oven, both Waverly and Wynonna in the kitchen. I looked around the living room, my eyes landing on the deputies jacket hanging on one of the chairs in the kitchen. It had been about a week since I had last seen Nicole, I wasn't sure if we were both actively trying to avoid each other, or we were both suddenly very busy.

I picked up a stray wine glass on the end table by the couch, looking at the red wine that had stained the bottom of the glass. 

"Anyway Lyons, they told me to remind you about Camilla and what happen-" 

The glass completely shattered in my left hand as my head shot to the left to meet Dolls' eyes, his eye brows raising in surprise. 

"Don't you ever fucking speak her name again, do you hear me?" 

"Um why is my glass broken and your hand bleeding, Lyons?" 

Dolls and I looked over to find Waverly standing in the doorway to the kitchen, an apron tied around her waist. Just as I was about to create an excuse, I heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs, her brown work boots entering my gaze before her whole body did. "R- Lyons, oh my god!" 

Nicole ran down the rest of the stairs, her hands cupping my bleeding hand, pulling me towards the kitchen. 

"What? Haught, don't bring her in here, she'll bleed all over my cookies!" Wynonna yelled, a cookie in her hand as she continued to look at the deputy. 

"Deputy Haught, I'm fine." I tried, her body spinning towards me as she placed her finger to my lips to silence me. 

"I need you to stop talking and sit down, Lyons." She commanded, my body falling into an empty chair before I could defy her. My eyes shot to Wynonna's, nodding her head towards me softly. 

"That was the safest choice" She whispered to me, causing me to chuckle. 

Suddenly, a very large first aid kit was slammed onto the table as my blood slowly started to drip onto the floor. Haught's hand forced the container open, her fingers flying through all of the different first aid items before she grabbed tweezers, alcohol, and bandages. 

Before I could tell her to slow down, she pulled up a chair and pulled her flashlight from her utility belt, shining it onto my hand to look for pieces of glass. 

"Nicole, I don't think any got in my- Ow!" 

She had quickly found the only piece of glass in my hand, yanking it out as if her life depended on it. As the pain started to sting my hand, she poured the alcohol over my wound, the excess falling onto the floor to be cleaned up later. I gritted my teeth and forced my eyes closed as I continued to close my jaw, my teeth feeling as though they would shatter if anymore pressure was applied. 

I felt her begin to bandage my hand with care, not daring to open my eyes for fear they would water and look like I was crying. Which I wasn't. 

I felt someone's hand land on my cheek, their thumb running over my cheek bone slowly as my eyes flew open to meet Nicole's. "You okay?" She asked softly, her head still very close to mine. 

I cleared my throat and sat back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest, my heartbeat racing. I really needed to stop this, she was mesmerizing. It felt like she was pulling me into the ocean, but I wasn't going to drown, only float. 

"I'm fine, thank you Deputy Haught." I retorted, looking away from her to watch Wynonna take a bite of a cookie with her eyebrows raised but looking away from me, knowing she had been watching us. 

"Now that that's over, want to tell us why you broke my glass?" She asked, sitting in the chair across the table from me. I could only chuckle and shake my head, looking at her. "No, Earp." I replied, taking the cookie out of her hand to take a bite out of it. 

"Agent Lyons loved someone once." 

My head shot around to look at Dolls as everyone stared at me in shock and disbelief, my eyes setting fire to the agent leaning against the counter behind me. 

"Now you have to spill. Either you or Dolls, I don't care which." Waverly said, grabbing the entire tray of cookies to place on the table, looking across at Nicole as she looked at me cautiously. 

"Agent Camilla and Agent Lyons became very close, dated for a number of years actually. Then, Agent Camilla disappeared and the department never spoke of her again. There were even some rumors that Lyons killed her." Dolls said, each word causing my heart to relive the pain I had felt, the pain I had actively ignored for years.

"None of that was true." I responded, feeling my body begin to close off as my emotions were being built behind a wall. I knew any chance I had with Nicole was gone now, my body was reliving that pain, and it never wanted to again. So, any feelings were being erased. 

I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I chose to instead look down the table, taking a deep breath before I began my story.

"I did date Agent Camilla for a number of years, that was true. I grew to love her, believe it or not. We met at an overseas meeting with other agencies. We had started talking, one thing lead to another, and she started working at Black Badge to be closer to me. She loved the job and I loved her, she was my first real relationship with a woman that wasn't just sex. 

We were in Germany, Munich, on a case. She had been contacted by another agency based out of France that she was thinking about going to, not breaking up with me of course. I did although express my dislike of the long distance, but in Germany I had asked her again about it..." 

My mind flew back to that night, watching her laugh and smile at me. 

"She laughed and nodded, before choking me, pushing me down onto the bed until I passed out. She would have crushed my esophagus if I hadn't of passed out when I did. All of my case files were gone, everything. When I came back from Germany, Black Badge was in disarray, they were tearing apart from the seams. I was pulled into a room and tortured for hours, continuously asked where Camilla was and how much she knew, if I had known. 

My 'mother' finally put a stop to it after the third day, convincing them I had no idea what they were talking about. They debriefed me that Camilla had been a double agent for what could have been years. She had used me to get information that she would not have regularly had access to. In Germany she had sent Black Badge the message and disappeared, threatening to expose them to the world. We had to go dark. 

This is the first assignment I have been given where I could act alone, on my own accord. They still don't completely trust that I had not known Camilla had been a double agent all those years ago. They told Dolls to remind me of Camilla, threatening to force me to go dark again if I mess up again."

Everyone around the table was speechless, including Dolls behind me. I lifted my eyes to meet Nicole's, her eyes showing sadness. I didn't want her sadness, I didn't want any pity from her or anyone else for that matter. 

"Wow, talk about a bitch." Wynonna finally spoke up, grabbing another cookie from the tray. 

"Lyons, I'm so sorry that happened to you.." Waverly said as I chuckled and sat up, my chair squealing on the wood floor as I pushed it back in. 

"I'm just going to call it a day today, you all have fun." I just wanted to be left alone with my thoughts, I wanted to drown in them. To remind myself why I can't get close or trust someone again, not even if they've already fallen in love with me. 

I walked out before anyone could stop me to give me a kind word of pity that would somehow miraculously make me feel better. I could hear someone's footsteps in the snow behind me, crunching quickly to catch up with me. My hand landed on the door handle of the unmarked squad car as a hand landed on my shoulder, spinning me around. 

I came face-to-face with Nicole, her nose already as red as a tomato, looking down to realize she wasn't even wearing a coat. "Deputy go back inside." I instructed, watching her shake her head as her teeth hit together from the cold. 

"I can't say anything to make you feel better, I know that Rose. What she did was awful and shitty and makes real love look bad. I know your heart is broken, it has every right to be. But, don't let Black Badge own you like this, never let them own you like this. Don't let her own you like this. You're not anyone's property. You were attacked that night, no training could have prepared you for that, you're not weak for passing out. I know you probably stay awake at night thinking about if you hadn't of passed out, could you have stopped her. I'm telling you right now, no, there was no stopping her. You're only human Rose, we can be a full garden but start to decay after a broken heart. It's up to you if you want that garden to ever bloom again." 

After she had finished her rant, she stood in front of me, gasping for air as she waited patiently for me to reply to her. I nodded and sighed, cocking my head to the side. "You're right, Haught, I'm decaying slowly. But in this cold, I highly doubt anything will ever poke through the ground again." 

I left the deputy standing in the cold as I got into the car and started it, backing out of the driveway as she stood and watched me, running her hand through her hair before she nodded and walked back into the house. 

There's her answer.

Author's Note: Hey everyone! I know this was a pretty short chapter, but I just really wanted everyone to understand Rose's character. Other than that, how is everyone enjoying the book?


	5. I'll Fight Anyone

****

** Chapter Five **

My eyes opened, but I felt nothing. I didn't feel elated to move onto another day, the previous day still replaying in my head. Thinking about Camilla had brought back dark memories, memories my body shot through my nerves, causing me to feel anxious and on edge. I felt as if the nerves would get too much and I'd pass out or throw up. Either of those would be fine right now if it just stopped this. 

I reluctantly pulled myself out of bed, wincing as a oddly familiar pain filled my torso. I lifted up my shirt to see if my ribs had been bruised as they had been while I was being tortured by Black Badge, finding only my tan skin. I sighed and shook my head, feeling my body begin to shake as I felt the nerves build up again, holding onto my dresser as my body continued its small convulsions. Today was going to be a long and awful day. 

Pulling open the door to the station, I began to walk down the hallway, hearing a man yell at the deputies in the office. He was obviously drunk even though it wasn't even technically the afternoon yet. He slurred his words, continually falling back slightly, catching himself before repeating the process again. 

"Listen here Deputy whatever, get my son out of that holding cell right now!" 

He stumbled again as I reached the opening to the office, watching as Nicole stood on the other side of the desk, a case file in her hand as she watched the man with an irritated expression on her face. 

"Mr. Burtson, I'm not releasing your son. By the looks of it, you should be in that holding cell as well." 

Mr. Burtson didn't like what the deputy said, placing his beer bottle onto her desk as Nicole's mouth fell open, glaring with irritation from his sheer audacity. 

"I'm not asking you anymore, Ma-" 

"I believe her name tag next to that badge says Deputy Haught, you will address her as such, Mr. Burtson." I spoke up, placing both of my hands on her desk near his beer bottle, catching his attention. 

He turned drunkenly towards me, almost falling over from the movement. He pointed his large finger at me, swaying as he struggled to keep his eyes on me. "I don't believe I asked you."

"Well Mr. Burtson, I don't think I've heard you ask a single question the entire time I've been here, so no, you haven't asked me anything." 

This angered the large man, fire lighting in his eyes as he glared at me. I started to size him up, noticing that he was quite a large man, one punch would definitely slow me down. My eyes shot to Nicole as she started to slowly walk around the corner of her desk to be closer if the drunk man would try to harm me. 

Out of the corner of my eye I could see a group of people take notice in the small altercation that was happening in the office, stopping to watch the spectacle. The man continued to sway as he snarled and glared at me, opening his mouth, words never leaving his throat. 

"Are you going to speak, Mr. Burtson? That's how a conversation works." I was purposely provoking him at that point, wanting to fight him. I wanted to feel my fist fly into the flesh and bone of his jaw, I wanted to watch him bleed on the floor, maybe that would get rid of my nerves. 

I watched the man grab the beer bottle he had previously abandoned, his hand grabbing the neck of the bottle, slamming his arm down to break the bottle into two pieces, leaving a jagged piece of the bottle in his hand. Nicole's hand was already on her gun, ready to pull it out of the holster to stop the man from hurting me. 

I chuckled, his action not surprising me at all. I put my hand up, looking at the deputy. "Nicole don't worry, I've got this, sit down." I stated, watching as she looked at me with confusion. 

"How about if you beat me, your son gets released. If I win, you get to stay in that nice holding cell over there, sound like a deal, Mr. Burtson?" He laughed at my offer, shaking his head. 

"You really are a dumb girl." The drunk swung at me, his stance sloppy as he mostly fell forward, quickly moving out of the way of his punch. 

"Plant your feet, Mr. Burtson. You'll only fall if you don't." I replied, already standing on the other side of him. He whipped around, probably thinking he had somehow landed his punch. 

The man growled, deciding it best to swing at me again with the jagged bottle in his hand. He was large enough that I was able to see what he was going to do before he followed through with his action. I easily dodged his second attempt to harm me, lifting my arm in a blocking motion, moving it up to deflect his as I moved towards his now exposed body, bringing my knee up as high as I could get it, aiming for his ribs. 

My knee hit just below his ribs, knowing that even though I had not hit my target, the blow would still cause him pain. I watched as he bent over holding his stomach, almost vomiting on the floor. 

"If you vomit you, you have to clean it up." I shot out, watching him turn around with pure rage plastered on his face. "Also, you can't leave yourself so open to attacks." 

The drunk growled at my suggestion, deciding the best thing to do as a reply was to run at me full force. 

I had no where to go, I was pinned between two desks. If this man hit me with his speed and weight, I would undoubtedly go through the damn wall. So, I did the only thing I could do, I played dirty. 

In one fluid motion, I pulled out the baton I had concealed in the pocket of my tactical pants, throwing my arm down to force the baton to slide open to its entire length. Without a second thought, I brought the weapon down right between the shoulder and head of the large man, causing him to fall into the wall behind me.

He did not get up, nor did he move an inch. I bent down, placing my hand on his neck to find his pulse. He was still alive, only knocked unconscious from my blow. I stood back up, pushing my baton back in before putting it in my pocket, clearing my throat. I looked at Nicole as she stared at me with her mouth fully open, her eyes the size of saucers. 

"Jesus Lyons, you almost killed him." 

"He's fine." I replied, stepping over the mans legs, turning towards the deputy once again. "He'll regain consciousness soon, with those blows it's only for a few minutes to buy time, usually. If I would have hit a vital nerve then yes I could have killed him, I chose not to, Deputy Haught." 

She could only gawk at me, trying to find words to reply to my odd statement. "Lyons, what were you at Black Badge?" 

I laughed and shook my head, lifting my eyes to look directly into hers. "The last thing people saw, usually." 

With that, I walked out of the office and into my own, sitting down at one of the desks as Jeremy continued to type on his computer. He didn't even bother to look at me, his fingers flying over the keyboard as if his life depended on it. 

"Lyons that was out of line, you know I have to report that." Dolls stated, coming into the office after me. 

I turned in my chair to face him, smiling at him. "You're only doing your job, I suppose." I answered as Wynonna ran into the office, raising her hand up towards me for a high five. 

"That was badass, Lyons. You have got to show me how to do that." She stated, Waverly nodding in excitement next to her. 

"Me too!" She shouted as I chuckled and nodding, standing as Doc came into the office. 

"That was a dirty move Lyons, in my time that would have gotten me killed." He shot out, lighting a cigarette. 

"As I recall, you weren't the cowboy of the year in your time, either." My remark caused him to chuckle, tipping his hand towards me. 

"That, you are correct." He replied, sitting in his chair. 

Dolls cleared his throat loudly, trying to get our attention rather aggressively. "Wynonna and Lyons, you two will do surveillance on the house that the revenants are supposedly going to sometime soon." I nodded and rose from my chair, Wynonna following close behind me. 

I closed the office door, running into someone. I felt their hands land on my waist to steady me, my eyes shooting up to glare at the person, my hands ready to punch them. My eyes softened as I looked directly into Nicole's eyes, her mouth falling into a nervous smile as she quickly moved her hands and stepped away to create distance between us. 

"I um, I wanted to give Dolls the report on what just happened." Her face was turning red as she lifted up the case file to prove her statement. I only nodded and pushed past her, getting into the car. 

As I parked the car in front of the assumed abandoned house, I listened to Wynonna clear her throat three or four times, trying to get me to look at her. I sighed and gave in to her tactic, looking at her with slight irritation. 

"Yes?" 

"Were you an assassin?" She asked, looking at me, expecting me to say yes. 

I smiled and chuckled, cocking my head to the side to look at her. "Partly, yes. Everyone at Black Badge has that type of training, I was usually called on to use it because no one expects the small lesbian to shoot them at point blank range or snap their neck without a second thought."

"Damn try hard, that's some scary shit." She said, shaking her head as she looked around at our surroundings. 

"I also did computer stuff along with business security. It depended on the case, really. I mostly said that to scare Deputy Haught." 

Wynonna turned to look at me with confusion on her face as a deer came into my view behind her head. "Why?" 

"She's getting too close. I can't have a relationship with her and she should know that by now." 

"But would it be so bad if you did? Think about it, that woman is already head over heels for you, have you seen the eyes she gives you?" 

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, starting to feel stressed out. I didn't want to explain to this woman why I couldn't date Nicole, it wasn't something I could easily explain. 

"It's not that, when this case if over, I'm going to leave. There's no point in starting something. On top of that, I don't want to feel that hurt again, physically or mentally." I spewed out, not entirely sure why I had just opened up to a woman I didn't know that much about. 

"What's happening in Purgatory isn't going to disappear in a week, Lyons, you shouldn't think like that. It's probably going to take years to end this thing. I know you were hurt, you made that pretty clear yesterday. But, look at how far you've come already. You've allowed yourself to be attracted to Nicole, I've seen that much, so just act on it. You both want it." 

I sighed, not wanting to be apart of this conversation any longer. Before I could reply, some people began to come into view, sparking my attention. I cursed and moved the car so that our cover wouldn't be blown, my full attention on the people walking towards the house. 

As they continued trekking closer to us, I could see that they were all carrying boxes, none of them empty handed. I strained my eyes to get a better look as Wynonna did the same, hitting her hand on the window. I held back a laugh as she rubbed her forehead, suddenly looking out the window again. 

"Shit Lyons, there's explosives in those boxes." I raised my eyebrows as I leaned closer to her window, realizing the woman beside me was right. All of the men, about 15 in the group, were carrying boxes filled with explosives into the house, following behind each other in a single file line. 

"We need to get back." I replied, waiting until all of the men were in the house before I started the car and drove back to the station. 

"Dolls, they have a shit ton of explosives." I said right as I barged into the office, catching the agent completely off guard. 

"Excuse me, Agent Lyons?"

"There was about 15 to 20 people in the group we had observed going into the house, they were all carrying boxes filled with explosives." 

"You're sure that's what they were?"

"Dolls this isn't my first rodeo with explosives, I know them when I see them." I heard him curse and run his hand over his head, obviously stressed out. 

"Well, we still have time before the gathering. Tonight, I'll run surveillance on them so that I can get a better idea as to what we're dealing with." I nodded as there was a soft knock on the door, Waverly practically running to answer it. 

She opened the door to reveal Nicole in her usual uniform, wearing her coat. 

"Lyons, Nicole is going to take you home today. I have to punish you somehow for the stunt you pulled earlier, so you're getting the rest of the day off." I whirled around to face the agent, irritation filling my body before I could stop it. 

"Are you serious?"

"Hey, I could have done a lot worse. I'm letting you off easy, have a nice rest of your day." Dolls turned away from me, effectively ending the conversation. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my coat and gloves, following behind Nicole as she escorted me to her squad car. 

"Did you want to talk about earlier at all?" The deputy ended the 20 minutes of silence we had both endured, looking at the side of my face before turning to look at the road again. 

"No, I don't." I responded, hoping she would catch the vibe that I wasn't in the best mood; she didn't. 

"Well, Mr. Burtson did regain consciousness soon after I had put him in the holding cell, he decided he wasn't going to press charges." 

"Good for him." 

Nicole pulled into my apartment parking lot, shutting the car off before turning to look at me. 

"Rose that could have been very bad." 

"I don't need you to lecture me, Deputy Haught." I got out of the car before she could respond, moving around the car before I stood in front of the driver side door. I placed my hand on the handle and pulled it open, opening her door. 

"What are you doing?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. 

"I'm off for the rest of the day, might as well be bored with someone else." Nicole didn't need to reply, she simply got out of the car and allowed me to close the door behind her, following me up to my apartment. 


	6. Something New

**Chapter Six **

Nicole shed her coat onto the couch, throwing it over neatly, making sure it didn't look as if she had done it carelessly. I was watching her movements from the kitchen, admiring how her hair fell into her face when she bent down to untie her boots, her fingers lifting to tuck it behind her ear again unconsciously.

I felt at ease watching her, her movements seeming so easy, without hesitation or restraint. I cocked my head to the side, crossing my arms over my chest as I leaned back against the counter, my eyelids lowering sightly as I watched her.

She straightened up her stance, her fingers running through her hair to move it before she moved them down to her uniform, starting to unbutton the buttons. I felt my breathing hitch as my heart dropped, feeling frozen to the spot. Was this woman really going to strip in front of me? She really was bold, if so.

"Nicole.." I started, feeling flush as her eyes darted to meet mine. I knew she could tell I was struggling internally over here.

Her mouth started moving but only air came out as she lowered her hands from her button up slowly. I felt out of breath, wanting her to continue, but knowing she couldn't.

Nicole moved her hands down to the hem of her pants, pulling her uniform shirt up, untucking it. She pulled the shirt up slightly, revealing a white shirt underneath. "I'm wearing an undershirt, Rose."

I couldn't help but chuckle from embarrassment, turning to look away completely as I moved to open the fridge, staring at the contents blankly. I had really wanted to see her body, I wanted to see the beauty she had hidden underneath her uniform. I could not lie, it was a simple fact. She was attractive and she knew that, she knew that she had caught my interest.

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Rose. I thought you knew that I wore undershirts at times. Since I don't button the top button, I thought you'd be able to see that."

I spun around to face the woman behind me, closing the fridge as I had turned around. "I don't make it a habit to stare at your chest, Nicole. Especially when there's other things to stare at which hold higher values, such as your smile."

My words caught her off guard as her cheeks began to turn red, looking away from me to stare at her feet instead. I did not mean for that to come off as sweet as it did, I was only attempting to be honest with her.

"Don't reply to that." I commanded, turning to walk away from her before we would have a sappy conversation where we gushed out our feelings. I felt Nicole's hand catch my wrist, effectively stopping me from leaving. I turned to face her as she started to inch closer to me, a soft look in her eyes as she looked down at me, a delicate smile playing across her lips.

I started to feel nervous about how close she was getting, realizing she was wanting to kiss me at some point. I wasn't sure I was ready for that, it meant she'd undoubtedly want a relationship.

I wanted to back away from her, to run away from the situation and away from Purgatory all together. If I was gone, I wouldn't have to deal with this, deal with having to deny Nicole what she wanted.

I tried to push my right foot back, to begin the awkward process of rejecting this kiss Nicole so desperately wanted, but I couldn't get my feet to move at all. I tried again to will myself to move back from the taller woman, to no avail. I felt stuck, but not in a bad way. I knew I shouldn't stay in this exact spot, but I was also curious as to how it would feel to kiss her.

Nicole was now very close to me, our chests almost touching as she looked down at me, her eyes calming down the frenzy of emotions my body was being assaulted with. She reached her hand out, slowly running her fingers over my cheek, causing a fire to ignite in my stomach. I had never felt anything so tender in my entire life. Not from Camilla, not from either of my mothers, nor from my father.

My heart continued to beat faster and louder, assuming Nicole was able to hear it by now, but I couldn't hide how incredibly nervous I was. I calculated I would pass out in about 10 to 15 minutes give or take if my body continued operating in this manner, knowing damn well I couldn't stop it if I wanted to.

The deputy lifted her other hand and cupped my face gently, running her thumbs over my cheek bones as I felt a serine feeling shoot through my body, calming me down slowly as I tried to peel my eyes away from hers.

"Rose?" She whispered, her voice sounding so calm, as if I wasn't having a panic attack right in front of her.

"Yes?" I tried so hard not to have my voice crack as I responded to her.

"Can I kiss you?" I knew she was going to ask, I knew this had been her intention throughout this whole encounter, but the question caught me off guard. She was asking me? Was this something that was normal? It was such a breathtaking gesture, but was it common to ask? I had never been asked.

"Yes, Nicole." I choked out, my breathing picking up as my nerves began to sore through the roof again, waiting for her to lean in towards me.

She smiled softly, leaning in closer to me until I could feel her warm breath on my lips, hovering above me. I waited and waited but her lips never drew closer to touch mine, causing me to open my eyes to find her watching me.

"Are you sure?" She whispered, her lips brushing against mine softly, causing my heart to jump as she sounded out the question.

Instead of responding to her, I tilted my head up more, finally capturing her lips in mine. It felt like when you hear the waves crash at the beach. The power and strength the waves have as they hit an object, feeling that crash in my chest. My breath was knocked out of my chest as my body began to fill with warmness, trying to keep myself grounded.

Nicole moved one of her hands to rest on the back of my neck as I rested my hands on her waist gently, not wanting to move them an inch further yet. I knew there would be time for that, but not in this moment. I only wanted to kiss her for years in this moment.

She began to move her lips against mine slowly, testing out if I was comfortable with it. I couldn't help but feel completely comfortable with her in this moment, feeling as if I could expose everything to her that I had ever done, knowing she would understand why I had done all of the things I had ever done in my career.

I moved my lips to match her slow speed, feeling as she pushing her body flush against mine, her warmth covering me completely like a security blanket. I never wanted this moment to end, but two people couldn't continually kiss for an eternity, not physically that is.

I broke the kiss slowly and stepped back from her, a smile plastered on my face as was on hers as we stared at each other, not sure what to do now.

"Can you not tell people about that yet?" I asked, hoping she would understand where I was coming from with this.

I watched as she nodded in understanding, taking my hand to lead me over to the couch. "Let's just watch movies tonight." She stated, grabbing the TV remote.

***** (Two days later)*****

"Rose, can I ask why you accepted my offer to assist out here? Yes, we've been close for years, but you hate the country, you hate small towns."

Dolls, Jeremy and myself were the only ones currently occupying the office, Jeremy writing and taking notes on something.

I sighed and leaned back against a desk, trying to decide whether I should lie or tell Dolls the truth.

"Honestly, I wanted to get away from Black Badge, you have no cue what they did to me. They forced their hand, taking control of my entire career there. They gave me the smallest and most ridiculous cases to appease me, forcing me to work with a partner when they knew I preferred working alone. I had no contact with anyone, no relationships sexual or professional, I wasn't allowed to. After so long I told them they either give me something better or they'd lose me."

Dolls looked at me with confusion, closing the file he had been reading while listening to me.

"Lyons, you can't quit Black Badge, what do you mean, lose me?" He commanded, catching Jeremy's attention as he started to watch us.

I chuckled and shook my head, running my hand through my hair as I recalled my state of mind during that time.

"Meaning, my office was on the top floor, Dolls. Yes it had bullet resistant glass, but repeated shots in the same area will begin to break through. Add a silencer attachment and no one will suspect a thing until I'm late to the evening meeting."

I wasn't surprised when Dolls slammed his hand down onto the table, glaring at me. "Dammit Lyons, I've lost too many people that way, not you, not now." He stood from his desk, the chair falling over as I stayed perfectly calm in front of him. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, speed dialing a number as he continued to glare at me.

"Dolls, what are you-"

"Get me a psych evaluation team out here right now for Agent Lyons."

My mouth fell open as I lurched my body forward to stand up straight, hitting the phone out of Dolls' hand.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Xavier?" I was pissed, they were going to bring me back, they definitely wouldn't allow me to work in the field now.

"Your mental health is important, Lyons, you can't just say shit like that like it's a normal thing to think about. You need help." He shot back, Jeremy clearing his throat, catching our attention. We both looked at him as he pointed to the door, turning my head to lock eyes with Nicole.

"I can come back.." She said before shutting the door behind her, not allowing us to stop her.

I sighed and leaned back against the desk, trying to think of the lies I was going to tell them, anything to stay here and not go back. I couldn't, I would surely follow through with my plan if I did. I couldn't keep living under Black Badge's shadow like that.

"They'll be here soon, don't doubt they won't speed to see if you're okay." Dolls said after we had sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal.

I couldn't reply to him, I only wanted to hide, I didn't want to go back there. I was trying to piece together all of the lies I was going to mold as the office door opened, Doc, Wynonna, Waverly, and Nicole piling in.

I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to be able to think now that everyone was around. I lifted myself up and sat on the desk, crossing my legs as I looked at everyone.

"Why did I hear shouting a bit ago?" Waverly asked, moving to stand next to Jeremy as he slid a lab coat over his shoulders, followed by gloves.

"We had a disagreement." Dolls replied, eyeing me before speaking to Wynonna about what he had found after his surveillance he had done a few days prior. Nicole moved closer to me as Jeremy walked around his desk and stood in front of me.

"What?" I asked, not understanding why he had to be so close to me.

"Before a psych evaluation, I need to evaluate you physically." He said awkwardly, looking at Nicole, trying to process how she was going to react.

"Psych evaluation?" Nicole and Waverly had said it simultaneously, both looking at me expecting a answer.

I could only shrug my shoulders, trying to brush it off. "Standard operating procedure?" I heard Nicole ask, raising her eyebrow at me as I tried to not get lost in her eyes.

Damn, this woman is captivating.

I could only nod in response, looking towards Jeremy for instructions.

"Hold your arms out." He said, following his command.

I extended my left, then my right arm, watching as he bent down to exam for scars or anything of that nature. He stopped on my right arm, running his fingers over the only scar I had, resting on my forearm.

"This?" He asked, looking up at me, fully expecting the answer he would receive.

"It's not what you think, it's my tracker." I replied, catching him off guard. He furrowed his eyebrows as he quickly walked behind me, placing his fingers on the middle of the back of my neck.

"It's not there, I told you."

"How is it not there? Did you move it yourself? That's impossible."

"No dipshit, they didn't start putting them in the necks until three years after I got mine."

"That can't be, when did you start working for the department? It couldn't have been that long ago, you're only 23 now." I chuckled and shook my head, smiling at his stupidity. Nicole and Waverly looking at me with confusion.

"Jeremy, I started working at Black Badge at the age of 11 when I was taken in." I replied, his mouth falling open in response.

"Look at my case file, it'll tell you some of the details." I added, looking at Nicole.

I kept my eyes on her, opening my mouth to speak again. "That's what happens when you're someone's property, they like to keep track of their assets."

Nicole looked saddened by my comment, placing her hand on my shoulder to comfort me, allowing her to do that small action. If it would have been someone else, I would have pushed their hand off, but I didn't want to do that to Nicole.

I continued to look into her eyes before my eyes were torn away by the sound of the office door being thrown open, three or four armed guards running into the room. I quickly got off of the desk and moved to the middle of the room, moving my feet a shoulders width apart as I squared my shoulders, standing at complete attention.

The guards stood in all four corners of the room, several people standing in the opening, hearing high heels click on the hallway floor, knowing my mother was coming. I wanted to run, but I couldn't move an inch, not until she had told me I could.

My heart began to race as everyone else in the room stared at me, Doc playing with his revolver. "Why in the world are you standing there like that, girl?" He asked, one of the doctors looking at Doc. I couldn't speak or respond to him as I heard the heels draw closer and closer until she was standing in the doorway, a smile spread across her face.

"Well now sweetheart, I would have thought it'd be longer than this to come out here to offer some help." She knew I couldn't respond as Wynonna walked and stood next to me, assuming she was glaring at my 'mother'.

"Why the hell are you here, Lucado? We didn't call you here." She spat out, hearing the woman who had raised me from the age of 11 laugh, smiling sweetly at Wynonna.

"Oh you didn't tell them, Rose? I'm her mother. Isn't that right, darling?"

"Yes ma'am" I responded automatically, staring straight ahead. I felt my 'mom' run her fingers down my cheek as I stood perfectly still, trying desperately to remain at attention and not shy away from her touch.

"Relax." She finally said, allowing me to drop my shoulders. Wynonna whirled around to look at me dumbfounded, her mouth open.

"Try hard, you didn't think to tell us that your damn mother was the devil herself?" She shot out, looking at Dolls for confirmation, he only nodded towards her, confirming her statement.

Lucado smiled and looked at me, her eyes raking all over my body. "Adoptive mother, and Rose you've been losing weight, you need to eat. You don't want to end up like your mother. It was sad really, her mother starved to death after her father had abused both of them." That was a lie, almost all of it was. My mother hadn't starved to death, but that's what she always told people, trying to make herself look all the better to other people.

I looked over to Nicole to see if she had bought the story Lucado had told, her eyes looking at me with sorrow. I didn't want her to pity me, especially if I ever told her the truth as to how I lost both of my parents.

"Well Agent Lyons, let's hurry this up, I have a business meeting in a few hours. Follow me." Lucado led me to a private office in our office, the office Dolls usually used for privacy.

I knew she was going to try and get me back at the office with her, wanting me directly underneath her wing again. She was hoping I would slip up in the evaluation, but I was going to do everything in my power to stay far away from her. 


	7. Igniting the Fire

** Chapter Seven **

We both exited the office at the same time, trying to keep from smirking at Dolls as the doctor handed the piece of paper to him. "So you're clear then?" He asked, looking up at me with slight disbelief. 

I felt Lucado move farther away from me, putting her coat back on with a hint of irritation. "Surprisingly yes, Agent Lyons passed with flying colors. But we both know you'll be back at headquarters, you always figure out how to mess something up. Or, just end up screwing a woman for years that you hardly know before she blows everything to shit." 

I felt a surge of anger fly through me as I suddenly pulled out the hunting knife I kept hidden on the side of my leg. With one fluid motion I stabbed it into the desk near my mothers hand, almost sending the tip of the knife through the back of it. I glared at my mother as she did the same, the guards aiming their rifles at me as everyone else in the room remained completely still. 

"Lyons-" I cut Dolls off, not daring look away from my 'mother'. 

"You have always remained hidden behind your words, one day someone is going to get sick of you." I spat out, an evil smile spreading across my caretakers face, a low chuckle escaping her lips. 

"I made you who you are, Rose. I'll be the first to send a bullet through you if you ever get the inkling of a thought to end me. I won't even hesitate." She replied, feeling my body get the urge to shake from anger as I continued to look at her. 

"Ma'am, we need to leave." One of the guards finally ended our staring contest, both of us looking at him. 

Lucado smirked, looking me directly in the eyes as she cupped my face in her hand. I wanted to move away from her, I absolutely detested when she tried to be tender with me. I knew it was all an act, none of it was ever genuine. 

"I'll give you this bit of information though, about your former acquaintance. Even though you're not even cleared to receive this information." My eyes shot up to meet hers, trying to decide if Lucado was going to be telling me the truth or not. 

"Okay?" I couldn't hide my intrigue in her information, never removing my hand from the handle of my hunting knife. 

I watched as my 'mother' stood straight up, running her hands over her white blazer to smooth it out as she raised her head slightly with a sigh. "Former Agent Moretti was killed during a building search a few months ago. We were still looking for her, and well, we found her." 

I felt as if I had been hit by a truck, my breath completely knocked out of my lungs. I wanted to fall onto my knees and cry, I wanted to show any sort of emotion that wasn't only anger. I yanked the knife from the table, dropping it onto the floor, the metal clinking on the floor. 

I watched as Lucado looked at me, an almost sad expression on her face. "You had a Do Not Terminate order out for her." I shot out, yelling at the woman in front of me that had just broken my heart again. Yes I had feelings for Nicole, those were undeniable at this point, the kiss we shared was amazing. But a part of me would always have feelings for Camilla. 

I wanted to punch her, but I knew that would only get me injured. "She had provoked the agents. They went in and she did not surrender, only raised a gun towards them. But, she did say something." My 'mother' said quickly, almost as though she was trying to comfort me in front of everyone in the room. 

"What?" I choked out, my throat tightening as a wave of emotions began to fill me. Lucado looked at the agent near us, motioning him over to us. The agent lowered his rifle and stood next to the woman in front of me. 

"She said, and I'm direct quoting, 'tell Lyons none of that shit was her fault, but this is.' and then she raised her weapon towards us." After he had spoken, the agent moved to where he had been standing before, leaving me to look at my 'mother' again.

She clapped her hands together before moving away from me and towards the door. "Enough of that, I have a meeting to get to." Without so much as a goodbye, everyone apart of her entourage left, leaving the team and myself alone in the office. 

I felt empty, I had no clue how to process this information without throwing and breaking absolutely everything in a rage. 

"Lyons that can't possibly be true. Former Agent Moretti would not have allowed the agency to find her like that. You trained her, you know as well as I do that she's only slipped away from Black Badge's radar and they're pissed off about it." The agent placed his hand on my shoulder as a form of comfort, his words giving me some hope. 

Don't get my emotions wrong, I never wanted to get back together with Camilla, I only wanted her to be alive; even though she had betrayed me. 

"In other news, I would like to obtain a drinking partner today. Any takers?" We all looked at Doc as he stood from the desk, looking at all of us. 

I watched as Wynonna instantly ran towards him, raising her hand. "Hell yeah!" She cheered, looking at everyone else. 

"Lyons and I have to-" 

"Go get fucking drunk to the thought of my ex being killed, yes." I cut Dolls off, not even looking at him as I grabbed my coat, and gloves. "Don't wait up for me." I told him, leaving behind Doc and Wynonna. 

*******

"What the hell is this place?" I asked, looking around at the many women wearing little clothing, drunk men yelling at them.

"Pussy Willows!" Wynonna yelled over the music, grabbing my hand to lead me to the bar. 

"I'm not sure I much care for this place." I replied, looking at Wynonna skeptically. I never liked when women were objectified like this, it isn't right. 

"Don't be a pussy, try hard." She handed me a brown liquid in a shot glass, smirking at me. We all clinked our glasses together before I took the shot, immediately hating myself for it. It was awful, the cheap liquor only tasted like I was eating wood, it was bitter and disgusting. The only time I drank was when I was trying to seduce someone before killing them, that was literally it.

I felt my body begin to be effected by the alcohol as another shot was slid into my line of sight again. "One more, then we can be social." Wynonna said, Doc nodding as he watched women dance on a pole. 

I took the shot, the second going down easier than the first. I took a deep breath as I looked around, my body relaxing as I caught a woman's eye across the room. I tore my eyes away, not wanting to take anyone home tonight. 

"So, I know it must be hard to hear about your ex girl-"

"Ex-fiance." I clarified, looking Wynonna dead in the eyes. 

"Hold up, y'all were engaged? You never mentioned that before." Wynonna stated, taking yet another shot before looking at me. Her body was swaying slightly as she looked at me, keeping herself steady by holding onto the bar. 

"Because no one knew, absolutely no one. The only reason I'm telling you is because I'm intoxicated." I stated, grabbing the shot Wynonna was about to take again, downing it myself. 

"Shit man, that really sucks." She said, not daring let go of the bar. My body was beginning to feel tingly as I chuckled slightly at how I felt, looking over at Wynonna. 

She was starting to stumble over to the booths next to the stripper pole, plopping herself down next to Doc. The man was smiling and throwing money at the woman on the pole, Wynonna laughing when he finally ran out of bills to throw. 

I chuckled along with her, Doc looking at both of us. "Are we all already drunk?" He asked, all of us laughing as I swayed my body slightly to the beat of the music. 

"Well I'm not talking from a saints point of view, but Deputy Haught will not be happy if we drove ourselves home." Doc said drunkenly as I rolled my eyes, shaking my head at him. 

"She's not finding out." I said, slurring my words as I tried to look straight at Doc. I noticed Wynonna was gone, quickly sitting up to try and locate her. 

I found her across the room as the song changed, the bass thumping in my ears as I watched Wynonna talk to the woman I had seen earlier. The woman laughed and followed behind Wynonna as she smirked and gave me a thumbs up, realizing she was talking to the woman for me. 

I started to shake my head no as they both stood in front of me, the woman smiling as she handed me a fruity looking drink. I held it up to my nose as Doc and Wynonna left me alone with the unknown woman. As I had started to inhale the drink to smell the different types of alcohol the woman put her finger on the bottom of the glass, tipping it into my mouth. I was forced to drink the liquid before I choked on it, the woman laughing as she straddled my lap, putting her arms around my neck. 

"My name's Pearl." She said, not enjoying how close this woman was to me. I wanted no part of her, but I didn't want to be rude to her either. I knew she was probably harassed by men constantly, glad to please a woman for a change. 

I smiled at her softly, trying to be nice to her. I still felt way too intoxicated from the amount of alcohol Pearl had forced me to drink, trying to remain with my wits. I felt her hips begin to gyrate in my lap as my body was immediately excited by her small action, my mouth dropping in surprise as I felt a fire start between my legs. 

The woman laughed softly as she looked into my eyes, moving her lips to my ear. "I'll give you a free dance if I can take you home." She whispered, gasping at how forward this woman was being with me. I wanted to tell her no but my body was far too excited, not being able to get any words out of my mouth. Pearl took that as a yes, smirking as she started to move her hips to the beat over me, drunkenly trying to hold in a moan as she pressed her forehead against mine. 

"I said get back!" I heard Wynonna yell, finally able to snap out of my haze as I placed one hand behind me onto the couch, pushing myself up with Pearl still on top of me. She wrapped her legs around my waist as I pulled my gun out, raising it towards the man Wynonna was yelling at as the music stopped, my body angled with my gun towards the man, Pearl away from him. 

I almost dropped the woman as my mouth fell open, my eyes staring straight into the barrel of Nicole's gun as she looked at me, her mouth almost to the floor. The man had left angrily as Wynonna caught sight of Nicole, cringing as she looked at me. 

"Your ride's here?" Wynonna was trying to downplay the moment as Pearl finally unwrapped herself from around me, staying by my side. 

"Wynonna you called her?" I asked angrily as I felt Pearl's arms wrap around me, still feeling slightly intoxicated as Nicole stepped closer to me. 

"Listen, you needed a ride." She said as Waverly also came through the entrance, giving Wynonna an irritated look. Nicole was now next to me, her eyes never leaving mine, she didn't even acknowledge the stripper next to me. 

"I'm your ride." She said with steel laced in her words, my heart dropping slightly. She was pissed, I could tell. But, who wouldn't be if the girl you liked was getting a lap dance from a stripper before you picked her up? 

"That's okay, Deputy. I'm her ride tonight." The stripper said beside me as I felt her hand land on my wrist, trying to lead me towards the back door. I instinctively reached out for Nicole's hand, taking it in mine so the stripper couldn't drag me away. I knew I had messed up, but either way, I would still end up in Nicole's squad car, either sitting up front or in the back. 

Pearl tried to yank me free as Nicole's other hand grabbed the stripper by the back of her neck, pulling her closer to the pissed off deputy. "Don't you dare force this woman with you, do you hear me? I can always pull up those charges that we had swept aside."

I had never seen Deputy Haught so angry in my life, but then again, I hadn't been around her for a long time. Either way, it was frightening to see her like that. Pearl immediately released my wrist, almost running away from us. I couldn't help but stare at Nicole as she watched Pearl run away before shooting a glare my way. 

"Can you walk?" She asked, her hand on my shoulder as I nodded softly. She led me to her squad car, opening the passenger door for me, slamming it shut after I was in. I sighed as she came around the car and pulled open the drivers door, feeling as though I was a child in trouble. 

I thought about the times I had spent with my birth mother, trying to remember all of the endearing moments I had had with her before I watched her die in front of me, clutching the bullet wound I had caused. 

I shook my head at the memories, trying to get rid of them. I felt my throat tighten as I leaned forward, my body wanting to go into the fettle position as Nicole started to drive away. Without warning I started to actually sob, my body shaking and closing up as I felt all of the pain fill my body at once. 

The gunshot, my mother looking at me with shock in her eyes as she fell to her knees, falling to my height as her hand caressed my cheek, telling me she loved me before she fell to the ground. 

My hand grabbed the center console to ground myself as I felt Nicole's hand land on the middle of my back to offer some comfort, moving it slowly. I called out my mother's name as I continued with my episode. I had no control over myself as I continued to call out her name, needing her desperately.

This was the first time in years I had actually thought about her for more than two seconds, the first time I had actually cried over her death. I couldn't before, I had no time to accept it, I only had time to train. 

Suddenly the car stopped and Nicole got out of the car, running around to my side, throwing my door open. I felt her push my body forward against the seat, leaning over my body to unbuckle my seat belt and free me from its hold. 

My body fell to the right, landing in Nicole's arms as she remained crouched down by my seat. She held me tighter than anyone had ever held me, not caring that I was sobbing and wailing directly into her ear. I could only grab fistfuls of her jacket as she pulled my body back out of the car, lifting me up into her arms. Her hands guided my legs around her waist, resting her hands on the bottoms of my thighs as I started to whimper weakly. 

She somehow managed to close the car door before going into the building, surprising me as she started to ascend the stairs with no problem. I didn't think she was weak, not in the slightest, but I was still surprised to see she was able to do this in the position we were in. 

I closed my eyes for a few seconds, opening them to find that I was being set down onto my bed, trying to remember when we had gone through my front door. I sat up weakly, pulling off my coat and shirt, leaving only my bra on before I pulled my pants down, forgetting that Nicole was still in the room. Instead of stop me or judge me for my actions that night, she smiled and pulled the covers over my exposed body, caressing my cheek. 

She turned to walk away from me, grabbing a hold of her jacket before she could leave. "Stay." I breathed out, watching her debate whether it was a good idea if she did. She nodded slowly, peeling off her jacket. 

She had only taken her uniform shirt and utility belt off, deciding it best to leave everything else on. I whimpered and pulled her on top of me using her belt loops, catching the deputy by surprise. I watched as she smiled softly, placing her hand on my chest gently to stop me. 

"Not tonight, Rose. You'll know why if you remember in the morning." She said softly, running her hand through my hair before she crawled off of me, laying on her side to my left, pulling up the covers before she pulled my body closer to hold me against her. 

I wasn't even upset or mad that she had rejected me, her holding me like this made up for all of it. Well, almost all of it.


	8. The Match

** WARNING: Graphic depictions of violence **

** Chapter Eight **

The smell of coffee filled my nose as I stepped into the Sheriff's Office, watching a few deputies run past me towards their squad cars. The air in the office dripped of tension and anxiety as I looked back up, almost running into a crying woman. 

"How could he do that?" She was sobbing, hitting the deputy in the chest as he took her statement, trying to calm her down. I was confused, no one had texted or called me, what was going on? 

I heard a door shut, my eyes snapping up to look directly into Sheriff Nedley's eyes. He sighed as he zipped up his coat, shaking his head at me, trying to walk past me without an explanation. 

I grabbed his arm, hearing him sigh loudly as he turned to look at me. "Agent." He said, looking at me as if I had done the horrible thing that woman had been talking about. My head was filled with so much confusion, what on earth had happened?

"Sheriff, what's going on? I wasn't called." He chuckled and shook his head, motioning me to follow him out to his squad car. 

"You'll see." He said grimly, the radio in his car going off, the dispatcher stating that the coroner was en route to the scene. 

Coroner? What the hell?

He pulled up outside a dilapidated house, Dolls' squad car was already parked there along with three other department cars. We got out of the car, several people coming in and out of the scene. I started to take note of all of the things wrong with how the scene was being handled, the deputies not allowing the scene to be processed correctly. 

No one was standing outside of the house logging who was coming and going, effectively losing any aspect of understanding who may be tampering with evidence inside the house. I glared at one of the deputies, he smiled at me gently before he quickly turned his body away from me, throwing up into the yard. I scowled, noting he had just ruined more of the crime scene. 

I felt irritation fill me as I walked up the three stairs onto the porch, Nedley opening the door for me with a gloved hand. There were several people huddled in the living room, all looking at something. Almost immediately I was hit with the smell of decaying flesh, my nostrils flaring before attempting to get used to the scent. Nedley put his hand over his nose and mouth, not being able to ignore the smell as I was. 

Dolls noticed me first, standing up quickly to stop me from observing anymore of the scene. He put his hands up, trying to stop me. "No Lyons, this one is too bad, even for you." I pushed past the taller man, locking eyes with Nicole as she stood up, looking down at the child that was lying on the floor. 

"Too bad? Dolls I witnessed my parents' murder, what the fuck are you talking about?" I shot out, feeling slightly overwhelmed by how everyone in the room started to look at me, not even looking at the child's dead body laying on the floor.

His throat was visibly slashed, almost to the point of decapitation, blood everywhere in the living room. The child couldn't have been older than 10. 

"And what the hell are you all doing in here, this is far too many people in here staring at this poor child. Jesus christ Deputy Haught, do you have any control over this crime scene; everyone get out!" I yelled, my voice booming off of the white walls as Nicole's mouth fell open, looking as if I had stabbed her. Wow, maybe it was too soon to make that sort of joke...

"Agent Lyons, this is not in your-" 

"It obviously is if you can't secure a damn scene, now get out, all of you!" I yelled again, directly at the deputy as she looked at me with fire in her eyes, walking past me and out the door followed by everyone else. 

"Lyons that was out of line." Dolls said behind me, pulling a blanket to put over the child's body. 

"They can't make a spectacle out of a dead child." I retorted, looking at the blood spatter on the ceiling. 

"Why wasn't I called?" I shot out, trying to avoid stepping in the blood that soaked the living room carpet, noticing that the little boys' shoes were untied. 

"Because I knew you'd get like this. Your past has traumatized you more than you care to admit. You fought to have your parents' murder better investigated, but you need to just come to terms with the fact that your father killed your mother, then himself." I chuckled, holding my stomach as I looked at him. I knew he thought I was sick, he had a concerned looked in his eyes, but I didn't care. He had no right to bring that up. 

"Witnesses bare more truth than they will ever admit." I replied, his eyebrows raising as he looked at me, cocking his head to the side. He shook his head, deciding not to go further with my comment. 

"They think it's a murder-suicide. Deputy Haught assumes the boy on the floor went upstairs and killed his little sister while she slept in her crib. Stabbed her to death, actually. Then he killed himself down here. The deputies said that the boy showed signs of mental illness from a young age." 

I scoffed and shook my head, heading upstairs to look at the other scene. Dolls followed behind me, walking down the hall towards the room at the end with the door ajar. I stepped into the room that had pink wallpaper along with a pink carpet, a very large bear propped up against a rocking chair as if it were sitting in it. 

I looked to my right, the gruesome scene burning into my memory as I looked at all the blood. I looked away towards all the blood spatter on the walls and ceiling. "So did he fall?" I asked, turning to look at Dolls, watching as he turned to look at me from taking notes of the scene in a small pocketbook. 

"Excuse me, agent?" He asked, lowering his pen from the notepad. 

"Did he fall down the stairs, it's a simple question. Or, did he just randomly decide to untie his shoes before cutting his throat that deep." Dolls glared at me, knowing he was about to yell at me. 

"Are you mentally alright, Lyons? I know that evaluation was a week ago but still, you're acting very strangely." 

"Dolls the boys' shoes are untied, how did you not notice that? Also, another flaw, how the fuck could a young boy cut his throat that deep? He couldn't have. Jesus Dolls, use your brain. He could not have almost decapitated himself." I watched as realization hit the agent in front of me, closing the notebook. 

"Holy shit." He said quietly, quickly turning to walk back down to the other scene downstairs. He looked down at the shoes that were still untied on his feet, looking up at me with surprise. "Who could do this?" He asked, running his hand over his head in confusion. 

"Or what." I replied, looking back down at the body before I started to head towards the door. 

"Where are you going?" Dolls asked, catching up to me as I started towards our squad car. 

"To consult one of our agents." I replied, starting the car as he got into the passengers seat. I could feel Nicole's eyes burn into me as I put the car in reverse and left the scene, not bothering to look at her. 

I pulled the car up to the Homestead, getting out quickly and entering the house, the door hitting the wall from the force I had used. Wynonna, Waverly and Doc were all at the table, Wynonna standing once she caught site of me. 

"Dude, what did you do to Deputy Haught-or-not? She's texting me in all capital letters right now." Wynonna stated, scrolling through the many texts Nicole had sent her in such a short amount of time. 

"Agent Lyons overstepped her boundary and questioned the Deputy's competence." Dolls replied for me, earning a glare from me. This man really needed to stop interrupting my lies with the truth. 

"That's not what I came here to talk about, Waverly, I need information." I looked down at her as she smirked and stood up, saluting to me. 

"What do you need, captain?" She asked cheerfully, a smile filling her face. 

"How much information do you have on child murderers that were around this area?" I asked, the question catching her off guard. 

"Um, well, I don't have very detailed notes on that, so not a lot." She replied, quickly grabbing a box, leafing through all of the papers in it. 

"Try hard, this is weird even for you." Wynonna commented, Doc not saying a word the entire time. 

"Dolls will fill you both in, Waverly come with me then." I replied, zipping my coat up as Waverly grabbed a scarf and tossed it around her neck. We both were walking down the porch steps as another squad car pulled into the Homestead, a pissed off deputy getting out, fuming towards us. 

"Lyons." She snapped, fire in her eyes as she drew nearer to us, Waverly getting into the passenger seat of my car to give us some privacy. I sighed as Nicole stood in front of me, her hands on her waist. 

Damn, she's captivating. 

"Lyons what the hell is wrong with you? You can't just-" 

"I'm going to stop you right there, deputy, I'm busy right now." I cut her off, her mouth falling open in rage and shock as I got into my car and drove off, leaving the deputy in the snow. 

I sighed as I headed towards our destination, trying to not think about the conversation Nicole and myself would have to have at some point if we wanted to continue what ever the hell this was. 

"I won't make you talk about what you said to her, but I just want you to know that Nicole has a very kind and loving heart, it takes a lot for her to not like someone. Please don't be one of those people, Lyons, she really cares for you whether you want her to or not." I rolled my eyes and nodded at her statement, allowing myself to admit that Waverly was right. 

I didn't want Nicole to be upset about what I had said, I was angry at the time, I was out of line. It just wasn't something that I could tell her right now, I had far more important things to think about; like the child murderers of the past.


	9. Pin Cushions

** Chapter Nine **

Waverly and I walked into the library downtown, the sound of cars honking and people shouting effectively being cut off as the door shut behind me. The sound of silence filled my ears as I looked around, a small smile on Waverly's face as she looked at the rows and rows of books that filled the building. There looked to be three floors just filled with them, this building packed full of knowledge just waiting to be discovered by eager eyes. 

If my life hadn't of ended up how it did, I had wanted to become a doctor. My mother used to tell me that my uncle was a doctor somewhere out of the country, but as I grew older, my uncle's life became a tangled mess that began to contradict itself. I still firmly believe she had only created my 'uncle' so that I could hold onto the thought that I could be something more than what was happening in my life at the time. 

As my father yelled and screamed as us, I could think about becoming a famous doctor that healed people. Not the already fucked up daughter that was surely going nowhere in life because she still couldn't pull the slide back to his glock without getting nervous, my palms getting sweaty to where they would slip off of the slide. I would always receive a small tap to the back of my head. Years later, when I do make a mistake, I feel that small tap on the back of my head, startling me before anxiety sets in.

I took a deep breath to calm myself as I closed my eyes, pushing those memories to the back of my head before I opened my eyes again. I felt calmer, but still startled at the memories that were all suddenly coming back to me since I had come to Purgatory. 

I followed behind Waverly as she started towards the first set of stairs, walking up them as a voice abruptly stopped us. 

"Excuse me, there are no firearms allowed in this library." The librarian spoke up, glaring up at me as she pushed a stamp down onto the first page of a book without breaking our staring contest.

I opened up my jacket and pulled my badge out, flipping it open for the older woman to read as she leaned over the desk to observe it's contents. "Agent Lyons, we won't be here long ma'am, hopefully." I replied, snapping the badge shut before I walked up the stairs again, hearing the librarian huff and plop back down into her seat, the chair squeaking quietly. 

I heard Waverly giggle in front of me before she reached the top of the stairs, looking down at me as I continued to climb them, looking up at her with confusion. 

"Why are you laughing?" I asked, reaching the top to stand next to her as she ran her hand through her long hair. 

"Because you're always so serious, relax." She replied, turning to look at the catalog of what books were on this floor. She ran her finger down the list, looking at the ring she had on her pointer finger with admiration. 

I always really enjoyed when women would wear different rings on different fingers instead of the customary promise/engagement rings. To me, it made them look softer while also defying the customary obligations that the older generations usually tried to oppose on the younger. 

She caught me staring, trying to act like she hadn't seen as she found the section she had been looking for, immediately waltzing over to the large shelf of books. I followed behind her, feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket before I took it out, trying to silence the loud buzzing. I looked down to see Nicole's contact on my screen, trying to call me. 

I sighed and hit the lock button to mute the notification, sliding my phone back into my pocket as Waverly began to pull several books from the shelf. She came to the large oak table in the middle of the room with several books in her arms, setting them onto the table quietly. She sat down, pulling out the chair next to her. I stayed where I was at, watching as she held her head in her hand, opening the first book. 

I couldn't help but admire her beauty, smiling softly as I watched her. I wasn't falling for her, let me make that clear right now. My feelings belonged to a certain someone, even though she probably hated me right now. 

I took time to analyze the black skinny jeans Waverly had paired with a turquoise shirt that hung off of her shoulder, a necklace dangling from her neck. She looked so soft and delicate in that moment, but I knew she was always ready to beat someone's ass in a moments notice. 

"Agent Lyons, I do believe you have a staring problem." She spoke up, finally peeling her eyes away from the history book she had been scanning over. I felt my face heat up as I looked away from her, moving towards the shelf she had taken the books from earlier. I ran my fingers over the embroidered titles, not bothering to read them before turning to sit next to Waverly. 

I picked up a random book from the pile, leafing through it, some crime scene photos popping out. I studied them for a few minutes, none of them pertaining to the information I was trying to find. I felt my phone vibrate again, pulling it out to look at Nicole's contact as she called me for the second time. I turned the phone face down onto the table, trying to ignore the pull I felt to answer it, to tell her how sorry I was. 

The search for answers was taking hours, we had books scattered all over the large table, taking up all of the empty space at this point. I was holding my head in my hands, unable to process anymore information. My brain was absolutely fried, I just felt the need to stare into space and sit for days. I didn't want to think about anything, even as Waverly was still looking over the books studiously, taking small notes. 

I sighed and placed my head on the cold wood of the table, closing my eyes as Waverly opened up another book, starting a new page of notes. I have no clue how she was still going at it like this even after doing it for hours. She really was a person of many talents. 

I heard my phone vibrate on the table again, causing me to jump as I picked it up so it wouldn't make a loud noise, turning it over to look at Deputy Haught's phone call for the fifth time. I took a deep breath as I excused myself from the table, walking into some random book shelves to isolate myself from Waverly. 

"This is Lyons." I said blankly, trying to conceal any emotion that may seep through my voice. 

"Rose, can we please talk about earlier." Her voice was filled with sadness, the realization of how much I had hurt her hitting me like a high speed freight train. I was trying to decide when I would be able to talk to her, Waverly's voice startling me back to reality. 

"Stephen Dee Richards!" She shouted, jumping out of her chair in excitement. I immediately hung up the phone, walking back over to Waverly as she waved the book at me, point to a man's picture. 

"Is this our guy?" I asked, raising my eyes as I tried to read the chapter about him, but Waverly kept moving in excitement. 

"Yes!" She exclaimed, slamming the book back down onto the table loudly, not caring about the other patrons in the library apparently. "He killed a family in Nebraska before killing his neighbor. He was on the run for a long time, actually spending time in Purgatory. This book speculates that he was actually killed in Purgatory by Wyatt Earp and not brought back to Nebraska like the newspapers reported. The man that had returned to Nebraska had an entirely different accent as to what people close to Richards knew him to speak with, his skin also very dark, whereas Richards had always had a lighter complexion since birth." 

I nodded in surprise, actually considering this man as our suspect. 

"Is there anymore evidence pointing to him?" I asked, looking down at the several notes Waverly had starred. 

"Well, there wasn't a lot of child murderers documented during the wild west, with Richards having come through Purgatory, I'm highly certain that this is our guy." She said, closing the book she had in her hands. 

I nodded, not satisfied that we had sufficient evidence to point all of our resources at him, but we had searched for hours and only come up with him. He was really all that we had. 

We placed all of the books into the return bin, climbing into my car as I headed back towards the police station, hoping Nicole wouldn't be there. 

I pulled into a parking spot, Waverly practically running to our office to tell the others as I stayed behind, looking at the directory. I found the morgue, walking down several hallways to finally get to it. 

I stepped into the cold room, the mortician bent down, holding the scalpel over the little boy we had found earlier. "Are you here to observe?" She asked, standing up straight as she blatantly checked me out. 

"Well I just wanted to take a look at the body and your notes, I had assumed the autopsy had already been performed." I said, the woman chuckling as she shook her head. 

"The cops here are slow, you have to be patient." She replied, bending to make the first cut again, speaking into a recorder. 

"Sorry I'm late, I had to finish some reports." Nicole came into the room, a few files in her hand as she suddenly put on the brakes once she caught site of me. "Agent Lyons, you're not needed in here." She spoke coldly, feeling a pain in my chest as she looked at me blankly, showing me absolutely no emotion.

"May I speak with you outside?" I asked, hoping she would see the pleading in my eyes, agreeing to speak to me. With a sigh she nodded, holding the door open for me. 

"I'll be back, Laura." She stated before she shut the door behind me, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at me, waiting for me to say something. I wasn't sure what to say to her, how I would make the situation better. I didn't want her to be angry with me, but she had every right to be. If the situation were flipped, I would probably never talk to Nicole again. 

"Deputy Haught-"

"Stop right there, I can tell this isn't going to be sincere from how you just addressed me. I'm halting this conversation until you can figure out how to talk to an 'incompetent' officer, and I'm _very_ busy right now." There was pure venom in her words as she turned and went back into where the mortician was performing the autopsy, leaving me to stand alone in the hallway. 

I was speechless, I had never thought she would speak to me in such a manner, I didn't think she had it in her. I felt defeated, I didn't know how I was going to make the situation any better at this point, what could I say to her that would make her understand how sorry I was for saying what I had? 

Hours later we were all standing around in the office, trying to figure out where the hell Stephen Richards was. Finding out about him may have seemed hard, but this was proving to be far more difficult than we all had expected. 

"What about near the old mines?" Dolls asked, looking at Waverly, trying to help out, even though we had absolutely no clue where to look. We all hoped Waverly had all the answers, she was the history buff after all, but she was just as clueless as we were. 

"It didn't say where in Purgatory he had stopped, I have no clue." She ran her hand through her hair in exasperation, knowing we were all relying on her, even though that wasn't fair to her. 

Nicole was in the room with us as was Nedley, allowing them in in order to get more information on the places we were naming. 

"The mines are surrounded by woods that have some abandoned cottages that were used by hunters back then." Nicole finally spoke up, her eyes never meeting mine. She hadn't acknowledged my presence the entire time she had been in our office, giving me less and less hope that we would be able to fix this. 

"Well, then we can search near the mine and the cottages." Dolls said, nodding at everyone. "Deputy Haught, you can go with Lyo-" 

"Oh, I'm declining to work with Agent Lyons on this case." 

Well, fuck.


	10. Bed of Roses

**Chapter Ten**

My fingers moved rhythmically as I laced up my military boots, tightening them very tight before pulling my khaki pant legs back down. Today was the search and elimination of Stephen Dee Richards, it shouldn't be that difficult to pull off, there's more than enough firepower coming with us to hunt down one man. All in total, we had Wynonna, Waverly, Doc, Dolls, and Nicole coming with us, all of them playing a major part in the operation. 

I walked into the kitchen of the Homestead, watching as Waverly danced around the kitchen to some music coming from somewhere else in the house. She had insisted we all eat before we go out, she also insisted to make a breakfast made for a whole ship of hungry vikings. I tried to ignore Nicole like she was ignoring me, but I just couldn't pull it off. 

My eyes would wonder over to her, resting on her face, admiring the many facial expressions she made as Wynonna attempted to help Waverly cook. Dolls and Doc were sitting at the table, Dolls standing to hand me a cup of coffee. 

"Here Lyons, this may be different for you but I'm used to it now. This is just how they do it, they're nervous, it's better to allow them to get it out now rather than while the mission is in operation." Dolls nodded at me before he took his seat again, my only option was the seat next to Nicole, not even earning a glance from her as I pulled the chair out to sit. 

It stung that she was ignoring me, but I couldn't be upset about it, it was my own fault. I needed to start thinking of how I was speaking to people, only used to speaking with men that would be upset over a comment I made but get over it within 20 minutes. 

I took a sip of my coffee, Dolls adding absolutely nothing to it, causing me to grimace slightly. I detested the taste of straight black coffee. As I stared down at the blue coffee cup filled with the dark brown liquid, a sugar container was slid into my line of sight, my eyes shooting up to Nicole only to find her watching Waverly and Wynonna again, talking with them about something; as if the small gesture wouldn't affect me at all.

My heart did a flip as I stared at the side of the deputy's face, knowing damn well she could feel me staring at her. I couldn't help it, she had this aura around her that just pulled me towards her.

A plate was set down in front of me, looking down at the three pancakes on my plate. As I stared down at my breakfast, I started to think of my mother, the good times we had shared before that awful day came. 

I placed my hand on the table, holding the fork very tightly as I remembered dancing in the kitchen with her, her long blonde hair swaying as she danced with me to songs I can't remember now. We would dance all around the table, circling it repeatedly as the pancakes cooked on the stove; only stopping to flip and check on them. She would always cook with her favorite apron on, a pastel blue apron that her grandmother had made for her. 

I had never met my great-grandmother, my mother and I were completely isolated from everyone, the only education I knew came from her and homeschooling. 

I could actually hear her laugh as she helped me pour the syrup over the food, ending up in a fit of giggles as I accidentally dropped the container and syrup spilled all over the floor. She never yelled at me, never raised a hand towards me, she knew how to raise a child correctly; my father did not. 

I felt a hand land softly on my wrist as my thoughts were interrupted, looking at the deputy's hand before I looked at the now completely bent fork in my hand. I dropped it onto the table, astonished that I had been doing that the entire time I had been having the flashback. 

"You good try hard, or are pancakes not your thing?" Wynonna asked, raising her coffee cup to her lips as she looked at me. I shook my head with a chuckle as I stood up, Nicole finally moving her hand from my wrist as I got up to grab another fork from the drawer. 

After breakfast had ended, we had the layout of the area laid out on the table, looking over it very closely. There were four cottages in total, four of us searching those, while two people searched near the mines. We would all have radio communication with each other, so when one of us found Richards, we would all swoop in to offer assistance. 

Everyone was aware of the plan, they all knew where to go, and how to proceed. All that we needed to do was get our asses over there. 

Using two SUV's driven by myself and Dolls, we all went to the area we would search for the suspect in. Nicole had decided to sit in the passenger seat up front with me, not bothering to make any sort of small talk as we drove the short distance to the mines. The cottages were scattered all near the mines, so parking at the mines as our central meeting point was our best bet. 

I shut the car off before I got out, opening the trunk. I checked to make sure there was a bullet in my pistol before I slid it back into my holster, placing my hand on my hip to feel for the concealed hunting knife I had in the holster under my shirt. I pulled out my rifle, extending the butt of the gun so that I could rest it on my shoulder easier. I unscrewed the scope that would only get in my way, hitting my hand on the bottom of the magazine to ensure it was securely in my weapon, pulling the slide back to insert a bullet into the chamber. 

I felt Nicole's eyes on me the entire time I was expertly handling my rifle, my rifle skills far better than any of the men and women I had been at the academy with. I slid the strap over my shoulder, allowing my rifle to hang from my shoulder as I looked at everyone else. They were all ready, each carrying their weapon of choice. 

I sighed and nodded at everyone, waiting for Dolls to dispatch everyone. "Alright everyone, this is a simple mission, not too complicated. You all know where you're going?" Everyone nodded in unison. "Alright then, head out." 

We all started to walk towards our destinations, my eyes peeled for any signs of life among the trees in front of me. I took a deep breath to slow my breathing, my rifle pointed at the ready as my cottage came into view. 

It was small, but I could tell that it was very spacious inside. A wooden building with a chimney, a small porch in front of it. I edged closer to it, moving my finger to rest near the trigger as I lowered my heart rate, feeling the familiar serenity that filled me once I was completely calm during a mission. 

I reached the front door, placing my hand on the door handle. I waited a few seconds, trying to think of all the things that would be waiting for me behind that door. I took a hard fast breath, exhaling quickly as I threw open the door, sweeping the room quickly with my rifle. The room was very bare, no furniture aside from a small kitchen table with three chairs. There was a hallway that lead to the back of the cottage, only wide enough for one person to fit through at a time. 

I scanned over the kitchen as my ears strained to listen for any footsteps or breathing inside of the cottage, only hearing the sound of my own breathing. I started to walk towards the narrow hallway, my attention ripped from my current task as numerous, very loud, explosions assaulted my ears. 

I whirled my body around, ready to run out of the cottage to check on my team as I was suddenly catapulted from the building, the bomb in my cottage finally detonating. I was thrown a few feet from the house, the back of me receiving more of the blast than the front. 

"Is everyone okay?" I asked into the radio, only able to hear static as I struggled to regain my footing. I felt groggy and disoriented, not able to tell my surroundings. My ears were ringing, I couldn't get them to stop, but I had to continue with the mission. 

Slowly I was able to stand up again, a gaping hole in the cottage I had just occupied. I pointed my rifle towards the house as I started to move towards it again, determined to accomplish this mission at any cost. 

I walked through the front door again, my eyes peeled as I looked all around again, my eyes catching a man standing at the far end of the hallway in front of me. I fired instantly, my rifle getting out a few shots before it jammed completely. The man started to walk forward as I hit my hand on the magazine again to ensure it was in all the way, pulling the slide back to try and get the lodged bullet from the chamber. 

The man was drawing closer to me, I didn't have time to play with this rifle any longer. I growled in frustration as I quickly unclipped the rifle from around me, hearing it fall to the floor as I pulled out my sidearm, instantly unloading an entire clip into the man that just kept coming at me. 

I had no where to go, I was running out of space in this small cottage, this man was not going to die by my hand. I unclipped the empty magazine, pulling out another before I slid it into my gun, racking the slide once to ensure a bullet was in the chamber. Before I could fire the first bullet, the man lifted up his hand as my gun jammed, laughing as I attempted to fire the useless gun a second time. 

"Fuck!" I yelled out, clipping my gun back into the holster as I backed completely out of the house, the man continuing to follow me. He picked up my rife as I walked backwards down the porch steps, never taking my eyes off of him as he followed me. 

I heard him take a shot at me as I pulled the hunting knife from underneath my shirt, hearing him laugh at my small attempt to protect myself. "Stephen Richards, just give up!" I yelled, holding my knife at the ready as he dropped my rifle in the yard. The grown man in front of me laughed again, starting to run at me. 

I planted my feet even though everything in me screamed to get the hell out of the way. I lowered my body, my knees bent as Richards' body overcame mine, lifting my knees to throw him completely over my back and onto the ground. 

I turned my body completely around as the suspect had a surprised look on his face, trying to catch his breath after I had knocked it out of him. I didn't hesitate as I drew my hand back and planted my knife into the ground next to him, attempting to hit him in the chest, but he had rolled away. I attempted again, my knife aiming for his heart as it only impaled the grass beneath him, rolling his body farther away so he could stand. 

The man stood probably 6 or 7 inches taller than I was, a malicious smirk on his face as he suddenly grabbed my wrist with the knife, causing me to drop it. Richards was far too fast for me to even react to his action, only able to drop the knife before he was able to wrestle it from my hand. 

He began to walk forwards, forcing me to walk backwards, hoping that I would trip soon and he would end up on top of me with the upper hand. It finally happened when I small rock got in my way, causing me to fall back, feeling a sting in my stomach for the first time. I had to ignore it as I began to wrestle with the man that was now trying to grab the rock to hit me with. 

He raised the rock far behind his head as he drew back to hit me, my brain instantly coming to terms with the fact that I was not going to survive this encounter. Before the rock could hit me, I heard a loud bang and I opened my eyes, Richards falling over in front of me instantly. I struggled slightly to push his limp body from on top of me as Nicole held out her hand to help me up. She was holding a frying pan. 

"Nicole.." I breathed out, wrapping my arms around her as she continued to glare at Richards. Wynonna came up from behind us with Peacemaker, smirking as she looked at Richards who was still on the ground unconscious. 

I caressed Nicole's cheek as she smiled at me softly, running my fingers through her hair to move it behind her hair. 

I heard a loud gunshot, turning to watch Richards' body get sucked back to hell where he belonged. Everyone from the team came to our location, smiling as the sting in my stomach grew. I couldn't ignore it any longer, I had fought it long enough. 

"Nicole, I need you to take me..." I couldn't finish as I bent over in pain, her hands instantly wrapping around my waist to hold me upright. Waverly lunged forward but didn't touch me, instantly concerned. 

I opened up my coat to reveal the large red stain I had been concealing, the bullet going through my bullet proof vest. I fell to the ground as my fingers moved to take my coat and shirt off, unstrapping my vest from around me as everyone circled around me. 

"Shit, Rose." Nicole said as I moved the vest, the bullet still actually poking out of my stomach. My mind went foggy as I suddenly got very lightheaded, falling back onto the hard ground with a thud before I closed my eyes to the site of Nicole's worried expression above me. 


End file.
